Fate's Rewind
by SSDuelist
Summary: The life of Harry Potter, his family, and his friends, told in a new, unique way.
1. Prologue: The Reversal of Fate

Disclaimer: I do not own _Harry Potter_ or anything related to J.K. Rowling's works except for my own original characters and storylines.

...xXx...Chapter 1 – The Reversal of Fate...xXx...

...xXx...Prologue...xXx...

A dark era was upon the world of magic. Over the years, the Dark Lord Voldemort had been slowly rising in power, gradually gaining followers who believed in his twisted beliefs. As his power grew, so did his influence, which had spread as far as the British Ministry of Magic, where many of the workers were either followers or victims of the Imperius Curse. Simply put, Voldemort was a psychopath, but his ideals were not solely his own, as he had managed to form quite a following. The followers of his beliefs would come be known as the Death Eaters, though the true meaning of that name would not be known for many years.

Packets of resistance soon broke out across Great Britain, but many were not powerful enough to counter Voldemort and were extinguished as soon as they started. However, one group stood apart from all of the others. This was the Order of the Phoenix, led by the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore. The members were from all reaches of British Wizarding society, so they were able to stay intact throughout the reign of terror. With their powerful influence in and outside the Ministry, they managed to capture more Death Eaters than the Ministry did.

At the peak of Voldemort's reign, a prophecy was made to Albus Dumbledore by a potential teacher that would change both the Muggle and Wizarding worlds forever. However, it was at great risk to a prominent Wizarding family, so they were forced to hide from Voldemort and his wicked followers, along with almost everyone else they knew.

The story of that family began on September 1, 1971. An excited, young boy with a thin frame, hazel colored eyes, and black hair that stuck up in the back was waiting on Platform 9¾ with his parents. He had insisted on getting up extremely early so he was on time, and since his parents loved him more than life itself, they had no issue with his request.

As they waited for the train to arrive, a young girl appeared, by herself, at the wall connecting the Wizarding and Muggle platforms in the train station. The young boy immediately was taken with her attractive looks, long red hair, and almond shaped green eyes. He poked his dad in the side and motioned for him to bow down so he could whisper in his father's ear. He obliged, and after listening for a few moments, he smiled and nodded. His son grinned widely and thanked his father before grabbing his things and running to the girl. The boy's mother gave her husband a questioning look, to which he shook his head and nodded his head towards the exit and then at his son. His wife caught on and smiled sadly before the two walked through the light crowd and left the platform.

The boy ran over to the girl, who looked extremely confused, and stopped next to her, startling her. He stuck out his hand and said excitedly, "My name is James Potter. What's yours?"

The girl looked at the offered hand to the new arrival and shyly put her hand out as well and shook hands. "My name's Lily Evans," she replied quietly, a faint blush dusting her cheeks. James grinned and pulled her towards the train, which had just arrived.

And that's how it all began. The boy named James helped the girl named Lily acquaint herself with the train, and she thanked him for her services. Throughout the first year, he was always trying to assist her if she needed help. She was nice, but her hidden temper showed itself in unusual ways, usually when James got into arguments with one Severus Snape. To the shock of her admirer, she took the side of the greasy haired Snape every time, he being a friend from back at home. James took this as an insult and, along with his newfound circle of friends, made a solemn vow to make Snape's life a living hell while at Hogwarts. This usually backfired if Lily was around, because she chose defending her childhood friend over forgiving James.

However, around their fifth year at Hogwarts, Snape began to distance himself even from Lily, choosing instead to associate with a darker crowd from his own House of Slytherin. Lily became less tolerant of Snape and began to grow attracted to James' silly antics, as long as they were not physically harmful to anyone.

The attraction for the red haired beauty was still present in James even after all of those years of rejection, and that only intensified when, in their seventh year, James and Lily were chosen for Head Boy and Head Girl. At first, Lily avoided the prankster like the plague, but even she couldn't prevent her heart's true desires from emerging, and within the first month of the term, the two were an item.

Soon after graduation, Voldemort's rise to power climaxed, and the two realized that if they did not make something of their relationship soon, they might not have a chance at all. So, in a quiet ceremony, Lily Evans and James Potter were married at James' family home in Godric's Hollow about a year after their graduation from Hogwarts. A year after that, on July 31, 1980, Lily Potter gave birth to a baby boy named Harry. The family welcomed their second child into the world, a girl named Catherine, on August 13, 1981, soon after going into hiding from Voldemort. And that is where our story begins...

...xXx...Late Night, October 31, 1981, Potter Mansion...xXx...

It was a calm night in the small village of Godric's Hollow. An unassuming place, it was the home to many Wizarding families. One home in particular was on the outskirts of the village, protected by more enchantments and wards that most wizards could recall. This was the ancestral home of the Potters.

James and Lily Potter were currently in the living room of their mansion, enjoying a quiet Halloween night in front of the crackling fire. Lily sat in an armchair in front of the fire with a cup of tea and a drowsy baby girl named Catherine, with her mother's hair and father's eyes. James sat on the floor like a child himself, playing with a baby boy named Harry who was a year older than his sister with his father's hair and mother's eyes. James was entertaining his son by expelling some sparks from the tip of his wand, and Harry would try to chase after them. James would Vanish them before the baby boy could touch them, and the ritual would start over again. Lily watched the two with amusement and love, while her daughter quietly sipped on her bottle.

A piece of paper lay next to Lily's teacup saucer. It had a list of names on it. At the top of the list was the name "Peter Pettigrew," next to which was the words "Secret Keeper" in red lettering. Under the top name were the names of the Potter family and close friends, like James' best friends from the Marauders and the headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore. The spell on the paper connecting it to the list of people who were allowed to enter the Potters' property was an invention of Lily's, so the family could better monitor the Fidelius Charm on the house. Lily took a quick glance at the list as she set her teacup down.

"James, how long will we have to be on the run from V-Voldemort?" Her hands started shaking, "Do you really think that prophecy will come true? Is Harry going to be alright? Will we be able to protect him?" she asked frantically before shaking her head angrily. "I'm so sorry...you must hate me and my bloody mood swings..."

James looked up from his quality time with his son and frowned slightly. He got up and walked over to his wife, kneeling in front of her and taking her hands in his. "Lily, I could never hate you. I love you and your mood swings...well, I could do without the mood swings..." He made a face showing what he really thought, and his wife giggled a little despite herself. James smiled when he heard her laugh. "That's my Lily Flower. Now, don't worry about old man Moldyshorts. He can't get us here with all the wards that you and Professor Dumbledore and Professor Flitwick put up. Besides, Harry here will protect us, right?" Harry looked up from the floor and gurgled happily, raising his arms in what he thought to be a macho pose. Both of his parents laughed heartily at his acting job, momentarily forgetting about the dangerous world that lay just outside their home.

As James sat back down on the floor, Lily shifted her infant daughter in her arms and went to pick up her cup for another sip. She happened to glance at the piece of paper with the names on it again and paled at what she saw. She started shaking again, and the teacup slipped out of her hand and fell to the floor, shattering and spilling tea everywhere. James was startled by the smashing cup and ran over to his wife and asked, "What's wrong, Lils? Are you okay?"

Lily shook her head and shakily pointed to the paper. Peter Pettigrew's name glowed red for a few seconds, and then four names began to appear on the sheet, which now included "Tom Riddle," "Antonin Dolohov," "Alfred Nott," and "Upton Mulciber." The alarms connected to the wards began to blare as well. James paled as well and muttered, "Lily, take Harry and Catherine and get to our bedroom. Don't come out unless you absolutely have to. I'll try to stall them while you try to get some help."

Lily nodded and quickly got out of her chair, tucking her wand behind her ear for easy access. James got the two babies and handed them to Lily. She stalled for a moment before rushing up to kiss her husband on the cheek, whispering, "Please be careful."

"I'll do my best," he replied grimly. Lily turned and rushed out of the room with their children. After he was sure they were a good distance away, he muttered a few spells while pointing his wand at the stairs where Lily had just run, placing some protective wards guarding the upper level. Knowing there was nothing else he could do, he dashed to the front door and threw it open. A few yards away stood the white, snakelike form of Lord Voldemort, along with three of his Death Eaters, Dolohov, Nott, and Mulciber.

...xXx...

When he saw the front door fly open and the elder male Potter come running out, Voldemort's eyes narrowed, and he hissed to his followers, "You three take care of him. I'm going for the baby. I don't have time to mess with him." The Dark Lord started advancing on the house, and James made to try to stall him. The three Death Eaters moved to flank their master and drew their wands in a threatening maneuver. James stopped a few feet away from them, while still remaining in the direct path to the house.

"You aren't going anywhere near my family!" James shouted, preparing to fire off a spell.

"Get out of the way, you annoying pest. You aren't in charge here!" Voldemort growled, "_Expelliarmus_!" The Disarming Spell caught James off guard and hit James in the chest, sending him flying into the supports of the overhang over the front door. With the supports weakened, the overhang collapsed right on top of his body. His wand clattered harmlessly onto the lawn.

Voldemort looked at the destroyed overhang for a moment. "If he somehow miraculously comes to, finish him off."

The three murmured, "Yes, my Lord."

Voldemort turned back towards the house and gazed at it. "Excellent. Keep your eyes peeled for any intruders. Someone will surely have noticed that the wards went down," he ordered. The Death Eaters bowed slightly and kept their wands trained on the pile of rubble, being careful not to aim directly at their master. The evilest man in England nodded once and slowly walked into the house, stepping over the destroyed overhang and through the front door.

...xXx...

Dolohov, Nott, and Mulciber all kept their eyes on the pile of wood and stone, waiting for James to pop out and any moment. After waiting for a minute or two with no Potter, Dolohov spoke up and muttered, "I think the Dark Lord finished him off. Let's go find him and see if he killed the brat so we can get the hell out of here. Dumbledore will probably show up if we wait too long."

Mulciber replied, raising his wand up, "Agreed. But since we're here, let's clean up our mess, shall we? _Reducto!_" A red beam of light shot out of Mulciber's wand and hit the pile of rubble, causing a small explosion and raising a rather large cloud of dust that hung in the air for a few moments.

"That takes care of that. Let's go," Mulciber smirked. The three Death Eaters walked over the pile of rubble and entered the Potter home. None of them noticed James' wand zoom away to an unknown location.

"Wow, these Potters live large. Maybe we should...appropriate some of their stuff once the Dark Lord takes care of things with the brat," Dolohov noted. Mulciber and Nott nodded their approval as they eyed the various Potter heirlooms decorating the front hall.

"Well, there'll be time for that later, but now we need to find the Dark Lord and leave this place before those annoying Order wankers show up and start messing with our work," Nott spat out, speaking for the first time.

"Too late." The Death Eaters started to turn around just in time for Dolohov to be blasted by a jet of red light, knocking him unconscious. Mulciber and Nott whirled around and looked at the destroyed entrance. James Potter was standing there, very much alive. His glasses were cracked, trickles of blood ran down his face, and his clothes were ripped in multiple places, but he hadn't fallen, and he looked furious. The two remaining Death Eaters whipped out their wands, but James was faster. With a shout of "_Piertotum Locomotor!_" James brought four suits of armor in the front foyer to life. As Mulciber and Nott began to fight the clanking armor guards, James made a mad dash for the master bedroom.

Nott, finding an opening after blasting one of the armor guards to metal scrap, jumped out of the way of an oncoming sword and, waving his wand at James' retreating form, cried, "_Fodio!_" His Stinging Hex managed hit James on his legs, burning away his pant legs. Large, red welts erupted on his legs, and James fell to his knees in obvious pain.

Mulciber sent three Blasting Curses at the remaining suits of armor and growled, "Damn Potter. Didn't think he actually survived that earlier. I'm definitely taking some of his stuff now."

"I'm just happy that we get to finish him," Nott added, a twisted sneer coming to his face. "Do you mind if I do the honors?"

Mulciber shook his head. "In a minute. Let me have my fun first. It's not every day that my wand gets a good workout." He pointed his wand at James and shouted, "_Crucio!_" The spell hit James, and James twitched violently and screamed in extreme agony as Mulciber trained his wand on his victim for a few moments. When the Death Eater finally let him go, he just lay on the ground, still twitching in pain. Mulciber turned to Nott and added, "He's all yours."

Nott nodded and turned to his downed opponent. "Well, it was nice knowing you, Potter, but it's time to say good bye. _Avada Ked-_"

James quickly (and painfully) Disapparated and appeared behind Mulciber and Nott, shouting, "_Stupefy!_" and "_Expelliarmus!_" Both spells hit the Death Eaters and sent them flying into a heap on top of a semiconscious Dolohov, who was quickly knocked back out by the two flying bodies.

"Okay, then, time to go give old Moldyshorts what he deserves..." James muttered to himself as he hobbled off to find his wife and kids.

...xXx...A few minutes earlier...xXx...

Voldemort walked calmly into the Potter home. His silky, black robes billowed behind him, giving the illusion of the Dark Lord gliding across the floor. He lazily gazed at the Potters' many possessions and smirked.

'No doubt those fools I brought with me will want some of this once I kill the boy...' Voldemort thought as he advanced on the stairs that led to the master bedroom of the house. He felt some pressure as he tried to step up the stairs, but he quickly dismissed the wards James had hurriedly put up with a wave of his wand.

As he reached the top of the stairs, a shaky voice rang out, "D-don't come any further. I'm w-warning you!" Voldemort, with an almost sadistic grin on his face, looked down the upstairs hallway and saw Lily Potter standing near an open door. Her hands, both wrapped tightly around her wand, were shaking uncontrollably, and the fear she felt was reflected in her emerald green eyes.

"Ah, my dear Lily," Voldemort drawled, "It doesn't have to be this way. All I wish for tonight is the boy. Move aside and let me in the room! You don't have to die if you just do what I say."

"N-never! A mother p-protects her children with her life!" Lily stuttered.

"Ah, the love of a mother...so powerful, and yet...so futile," Voldemort mused, "Now I'm afraid that I will have to force you to cooperate. _Diffindo Maxima_!" Voldemort swung his wand down in a slashing motion, and a wave of pink light shot at Lily. The light hit Lily across her wand arm and both legs, and large gashes appeared on her skin, bleeding profusely. Her wand clattered to the side as Lily dropped it in surprise and fell backwards to the ground.

"That will keep you occupied long enough. If you try to interfere again, just remember that I tried to be merciful," Voldemort hissed as he made his way past Lily to the door to the master bedroom. Lily tried to get up, but the pain in her legs and arm was too much, and she collapsed against the wall. Unbeknownst to Voldemort, a wispy, golden mist rose from the rapidly growing pile of blood at Lily's feet and shot after him, visible to none except the unconscious mother.

Voldemort blasted the door to splinters and walked into the bedroom. Lying on the bed, without a care in the world, were the two babies. Harry was sucking the thumb on one of his hands and with the other tightly grasping a plush black dog, and Catherine was yanking on her dark red hair. A bag of Floo powder lay on the bed, a little of the green powder having spilled onto the bed.

'This will be almost too easy. I'll take care of the troublesome one first, and then I can eliminate the younger heir at my leisure,' Voldemort thought. He raised his wand, pointed it at the innocent baby boy, and roared, "_AVADA KEDAVRA!_" A green jet of light shot at Harry and hit him square on the forehead. Catherine burst out in tears at the sudden amount of noise, along with an inner sense that something was wrong with her brother.

What happened next was astounding. Time itself slowed as the events played out. The golden mist from Lily's blood floated over to where Harry and Catherine were and entered their bodies. The green light of the curse hit Harry and was completely reflected on a mortified Voldemort. The curse hit him instead and disintegrated his body, leaving nothing behind. The rebounded spell shattered the windows of the room, and part of the roof collapsed where Voldemort had just stood.

Harry sat on the bed, bawling like there was no tomorrow. There almost wasn't, if it hadn't been for the golden mist. Catherine, recognizing her brother's plea for assistance, crawled over and hugged him as tightly as possible. A small trickle of blood flowed down Harry's face as a lightning-shaped scar formed on his forehead. If anyone had been able to look closely, they would have been able to see, as the scar scabbed over, a steely glint to the torn skin.

...xXx...20 Minutes Later...xXx...

Sirius Black was having what he thought was the best day of his life. He had been out most of the day preparing for his nighttime date with his girlfriend Lizzie Vendor, doing some errands in Diagon Alley earlier in the day. After confirming his reservations at the restaurant he was taking his girlfriend to, he went home to get ready. At seven, he went to pick up his date, but she was not feeling especially well, which she contributed to her pregnancy. Sirius didn't think much of it and sat down with her, but he began to get worried when a puddle of water formed underneath his girlfriend. He really began to freak out when she began to feel intense contractions, and he immediately rushed her through the Floo to St. Mungo's. The Healers immediately took over and rushed Lizzie to a birthing room, with Sirius not far behind.

An hour and a half later, he was the proud father of a baby boy. As soon as he was allowed to see Lizzie in private, he pulled out the small box he got earlier and popped the question. When the Healers came back in to check on the two of them, they had to be convinced by Sirius that the fact that Lizzie was unconscious was due to him proposing and her getting so excited she fainted, not blood loss.

So now, the tall, dark haired man walking up the drive to the Potter Mansion was planning on doing exactly what his best friend did when he proposed to Lily – rubbing it in. He was hoping his amazing (and rather exciting) day would end well with a nice visit to his closest friends. However, as Sirius approached the home, he noticed something was terribly wrong.

The first thing he noticed that the tug he usually felt when walking up to the mansion was absent. Feeling nervous, he quickened his pace until he was within seeing distance of the home. He quickly noticed the state of the front of the house. The overhang over the front porch was completely destroyed, and the debris from it was scattered all over the front lawn and porch. There were also signs of spell and curse usage on the lawn and against the walls of the house. Sirius knew that none of these things were a good sign, so he leaped over the destroyed overhang and ran into the house.

He noticed, with immense relief, that nothing of value was destroyed. The valuables around the house were very important to James, as they were the only thing left of the later Mr. and Mrs. Potter, and since James' parents were the only thing he had had that were like parents to him, he knew what the pain of losing memories and mementos would be like. The only thing that was out of place in the foyer were the three men in black robes and white masks lying in a heap in the corner of the room, surrounded by a few destroyed suits of armor. The armored suits were fixed and back in place with a few flicks of his wand as Sirius walked over to take a closer look at the men. Unfortunately, his thoughts were confirmed – the security of the Potter home had been breached by Voldemort's men and maybe even the Dark Lord himself. As a member of the Order, he knew all about the prophecy since he was Harry Potter's godfather.

"Damn, this is not good...not good at all..." Sirius muttered, thinking about whom he needed to contact, "Albus and Remus need to get over here on the double." He pulled out his wand and swished it, thinking of his wonderful girlfriend and the news he was going to break to James. Shouting, "_Expecto Patronum!_" a silvery dog shot out of his wand and landed in front of him. "Okay, go and relay to Dumbledore, and Remus if you can find him, this message- 'Potter Mansion been attacked, family's condition not known yet, get here as soon as possible, bring Veritaserum if you can.'" The dog nodded, scattered into silver mist, and swiftly flew out of the house.

Sirius turned his attention back to the house. He crept walked towards the stairway with his wand drawn, following the trail of dried blood. He peered around the corner and was terrified to see James sprawled out on the staircase. His pants were burned away, and Sirius could see large welts on his legs and some dried blood on his head. Sirius quickly ran to his best friend and tried to shake him back to consciousness.

After a moment, James moaned and partially came to, opening his eyes and seeing Sirius. He gave a weak grin and mumbled, "Lily...Voldemort went after Harry and Crissy...help her..." With that, he fell unconscious again. Sirius stood back up and made towards the stairs but stopped when he heard some footsteps. A moment later, Albus Dumbledore and Remus Lupin came rushing through the front door and came over to meet him.

"Sirius, what happened here?" Dumbledore asked, looking in horror at James lying on the floor. The usual twinkle in his eye was gone, replaced by a look of pure anger. Sirius was taken aback, having never seen Dumbledore like that before.

"I don't know. I was just coming over here to talk to James and Lily for a little bit, and I get here and find three unconscious Death Eaters and James half-dead," Sirius replied hurriedly as he started to run upstairs, "And I have no idea what shape Lily's in. I was just going to find her. Take care of James!" Before they could protest, Sirius was already halfway up the stairs, so Dumbledore and Remus immediately began to tend to James. By the time Sirius had gotten to the top of the staircase, Remus had Disapparated with James, most likely to St. Mungo's, and Dumbledore was beginning up the staircase. Sirius had only gone a few feet onto the first floor when he saw Lily's prone form on the carpet.

Fearing the worst, Sirius whispered, "_Lumos._" His wand tip lit up, and the sight was almost too much to bear. Her wand arm and both of her legs were slashed open, and there was blood everywhere. She wasn't moving, and Sirius didn't think she was breathing. He slowly stepped towards her and felt for a pulse. It took a moment, but he finally felt a very faint pulse when he touched the wrist on her uninjured arm.

Dumbledore came up behind him and said, "Here, let me take her to St. Mungo's. Go find Harry and Catherine. They need you more right now." Sirius, who was now shaking from all that he had seen that night, numbly nodded yes. Dumbledore went to Lily's side, gently picked her up, and Disapparated with a crack.

Sirius got up and turned to the master bedroom. As he slowly entered the destroyed master bedroom, he noticed the extensive damage and made a mental note to help James fix it when he was feeling better. He quickly located the two children, flooding Sirius with relief. Harry and Catherine were tightly hugging each other, tears evident on both of their faces. What shocked Sirius the most was Voldemort's absence in the room. He knew full well what the prophecy stated, and he was relieved to find Harry alive and well. What he was slightly worried about was the fact that Voldemort had just left him alive. The only thing wrong with Harry, Sirius noted, was the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. Other than that, there was no evidence that anything had happened besides the destroyed bedroom.

Sirius walked over and picked up the distressed children and held them in his arms. "There, there, Uncle Sirius is here, you two. Big, bad Moldyshorts can't hurt you now."

The young man sat down on the edge of the bed, trying to calm the children down until Remus and Dumbledore appeared in the doorway. "Sirius, I obtained some Veritaserum from Severus on the way back here. It's the quickest way to find out what happened here. Would you like to do the honors?" Dumbledore asked. To Sirius, he looked about as old as he had ever looked to the young man.

"Yeah, let's do it," Sirius stated fiercely, handing off the two children to Dumbledore in exchange for the vial of clear liquid. The three men walked back downstairs, with Dumbledore tickling the two babies in an attempt to lighten their mood.

Dumbledore handed Harry and Catherine to Remus and pointed his wand at the three men, muttering two spells, "_Incarcerous...Defluo Negatum._" Ropes shot out of Dumbledore's wand from the first spell and tied the men together, while the second was an Anti-Disapparation Jinx that surrounded the men.

Sirius uncorked the vial, pried open Mulciber's mouth, and poured the truth serum down his throat. He took out his wand and said, "_Ennervate._" Mulciber jerked awake and immediately tried to escape when he saw his captors, but to no avail.

Sirius stared at the Death Eater and asked, "What is your name?"

Mulciber shot him an ugly look. "Upton Mulciber."

"Who do you work for?"

"The Dark Lord Voldemort."

"Where did you go to school and during what years?"

"Hogwarts, from 1949 to 1956."

"How did you find out about the location of this mansion?"

"Peter Pettigrew told us."

Sirius stopped his interrogation abruptly, and both he and Remus started shaking in anger. Their own friend, Peter Pettigrew, whom they had befriended and with whom Sirius, Remus, and James had shared many secrets, had betrayed them to the worst Dark Lord the Wizarding world had ever known.

Dumbledore walked over to Mulciber and cast a Sleeping Spell on him. He turned to the now furious men with him and said, "Sirius, Remus, get a hold of yourselves. Don't blame this on yourselves; you had no idea this was going to happen."

"Oh yeah? I was supposed to be James' Secret Keeper, and I changed my mind at the last minute! I told James to pick that...that rat to do it instead because he would have been less obvious, and now my best friend and his wife are in the hospital! I'M GOING TO KILL PETTIGREW!" Sirius roared. The two children in Remus' arms squirmed awake and started crying.

"Oh, dear..." Dumbledore murmured. He went over and took the children from Remus, whispering calming words to the kids until they went back to sleep.

"Remus, come on, let's go get that slimy git!" Sirius snarled. Remus nodded stiffly, and the two started to run for the door. Dumbledore noticed this and thought quickly.

"Stop, you two," He said in a firm voice, "You know full well that Pettigrew will be on the run because of this. Going after him will only give away even more information than they already have gotten." Reluctantly, Sirius and Remus turned and walked back into the house. Dumbledore sighed mentally in relief.

"Now, first we need to redo the Fidelius Charm on this house," he continued, "We can't do much at the moment, but tomorrow I'll bring Filius over, and we can spend the day finishing that. You two need to go and take the children to the Weasley family. I guarantee that they will take good care of Harry and Catherine."

"Are you sure the Weasleys will be a good choice?" Remus asked.

"Yes, I know it is a good idea. Molly and Arthur have had to deal with five babies already, and they have two right now. I believe their experience with children will be just what Harry and Catherine will need for the moment," Dumbledore replied. Turning to Sirius, he continued, "Sirius, you need to calm down and not do anything rash. This was not your fault, and we will find the person whose fault it is. Don't worry about it."

Sirius continued standing with his back turned for a moment. When he turned back towards the two other men, they were astounded to see tears rolling down his face. "I know, I know! It's just that Pete...Pettigrew betrayed us! He was our friend, we trusted him with our lives, and now my best friends could be dead because he went and ratted them out to Voldemort! Now tell me something isn't wrong with this picture!"

Remus, who had long since calmed down, went over and patted his friend on the shoulder. "Sirius, no one had any idea this was going to happen. It's not your fault, okay?" Sirius was still crying, but he nodded stiffly. "Okay, then! Let's get these kids over to the Weasleys, shall we?"

"Hold up a second," Sirius spoke up, "Professor, I noticed some blood on Harry's head. What was that all about? Did Voldemort try to kill him and lose or something?"

Dumbledore bent his head down to look at Harry and his scar. A look of recognition came to his face. "I believe I know what happened. Voldemort did try to kill Harry, and he did manage to damage Harry. However, something caused the spell to rebound on Voldemort, leaving Harry alive. I don't have the slightest idea what that would have been, though."

The looks on Remus' and Sirius' faces lightened considerably. "So, he's gone for good?" Sirius asked hopefully. Dumbledore shook his head gravely.

"I do not believe so. Even a rebounded _Avada Kedavra_ might not destroy someone who had dabbled in as much dark magic as Voldemort has." Sirius and Remus groaned, eliciting a chuckle from Dumbledore. "But, for now, we have nothing to worry about. If he is indeed still alive in some form or another, it will be a long time before he can do anything to harm us."

"The world will finally have some peace and normalcy to it, and maybe Remus can get a date!" Sirius laughed. Remus glared at him, and Dumbledore chuckled some more, the familiar twinkle back in his eye.

Sirius slapped his head as if he forgot something, and he continued, "Oh, yeah! I completely forgot the reason I came here in the first place!" He told his companions about the hectic day he had already had to deal with, culminating in the birth of his son, Romulus.

"It took you long enough. I was wondering when or if you would do it," Remus smirked. Sirius childishly stuck his tongue out at his friend.

"Yeah, well, it just seemed like the perfect time to do it. I've been hiding the ring at the jeweler's for some time now. It's actually quite comforting to get rid of it," Sirius explained.

Dumbledore chose this moment to speak up. "Congratulations, Sirius. It's a comfort to see that you aren't the mischievous boy you were at Hogwarts."

Sirius smirked evilly. "Who said I changed? Now I get to teach everything I know to the next generation of Marauders! It's going to be great!" He and Remus shared a high five.

Dumbledore sighed, but he still smiled. "I guess you can't take the pranks out of a prankster, after all. Let's get these kids over to the Weasleys and then we can come back here and figure out what to do next." Sirius and Remus nodded. The three men took a quick look around to make sure nothing was left behind and Disapparated.

...xXx...

Molly Weasley was up again at some ungodly hour of night, this time with both Ginny and Ron. It wasn't rare for her to need to tend to one of her two babies, but both at the same time was a rarity. Ron was an extremely sound sleeper, and Ginny wasn't, so usually only Ginny would be up. However, Ron had apparently rolled over onto his rattle, which caused Ginny to wake up crying. Ron then woke up and did the same thing. She cast a Heating Charm on some milk and began feeding it to Ron and Ginny at different intervals.

A few minutes later, she was getting ready to go back upstairs when she heard 3 loud cracks outside her house. Fearing a Death Eater attack, she set the babies down, pulled out her wand, and walked slowly towards the front door.

The door opened, and three tall figures, one with two wailing bundles, stepped into the house, the wands illuminating their faces.

"Oh, Albus, Remus, Sirius! You scared the daylights out of me!" Molly heaved a sigh of relief before adopting a stern look on her face. "You do know that it's almost 1 in the morning, don't you?"

"I'm terribly sorry, Molly, but it was vital that we come," Dumbledore replied, "Do you mind if we sit down? It would be easier to explain tonight that way."

"Of course not, let me get some tea for you!" The redhead scurried off into the kitchen. The three men took seats in the living room. A minute later, Molly came back in with four cups of steaming hot tea levitating in front of her and Ron and Ginny in her arms.

"Thank you, Molly," Remus said quietly, taking his cups. Sirius and Dumbledore echoed him. Molly sat herself down and rearranged her children in her arms.

"Okay, I assume you have a lot of questions. Hopefully, I can adequately answer them. First of all, let me introduce our guests. These two babies are the son and daughter of James and Lily Potter, Harry and Catherine." The redheaded mother set her own children in a nearby playpen so she could grab the Potter babies and cuddle up to them, which they immensely enjoyed. "The Potters were attacked by Lord Voldemort (Molly cringed) tonight. It was just dumb luck that Sirius went to their house to talk and found James and Lily in critical condition, along with three unconscious Death Eaters and no Voldemort." Molly took all of the information in and gaped back at Dumbledore.

"But are James and Lily okay?" she worriedly asked. Sirius grunted, Remus looked away, but Dumbledore kept his head up.

"We think so. James will definitely be okay, but Lily will be in rough shape for possibly some time. She got hit by a spell from Voldemort that caused massive bleeding. We think we got to her in time, but we can't be sure," Dumbledore explained. Molly gasped in horror.

"S-so that's why the kids are here, I assume?" she asked shakily, reaching for a handkerchief. Dumbledore nodded. The redhead managed a small smile despite her teary eyes. "I'd love to take the little dears; it won't be too much trouble. Ron and Ginny will love some new playmates." Sirius and Remus let out breaths they didn't realize they were holding.

"Thank you so much, Molly, I'm in your debt," Sirius said solemnly. Molly waved him off.

"Don't think a thing of it. I'm so used to children I could run a daycare if I wanted," she replied, "The little dears can be hard to deal with sometimes, but it's worth it."

"Well, you may have one more in a few days. Lizzie just gave birth to my own baby boy!" Sirius exclaimed. Apparently, he had been dying to tell this to everyone.

"Congratulations, Sirius!" Molly exclaimed as well, "What did you name the boy?"

"I'm now the proud father of Romulus Sirius Black!" Sirius was now bouncing in his seat. Molly smiled at his excitement.

"Well, I believe we've imposed on your presence for long enough. Tell Arthur and the boys I said hello," Dumbledore said, rising out of his seat. Remus and Sirius did likewise.

"Nonsense, you're always welcome here, Albus!" Molly said sternly, "But if you must, be careful." She stopped and made a face of disgust, "Lord V-V-Voldemort may be gone, but the Death Eaters don't know that yet."

"Thank you, Molly. We'll see you tomorrow at the Order meeting," Remus said quietly. The three men walked outside, turned on the spot, and Disapparated.

Molly watched them go, and she turned back to the four children now in the living room playpen. Harry and Ron appeared to be playing a baby version of wrestling, while Ginny and Catherine watched them act like idiots. Molly smiled at their antics. "Well, now, we need to get you four to bed!" She conjured up a large crib and set all of the babies in it. Deciding that they needed the attention more than her husband did, she laid down on the couch and nodded off to sleep.

...xXx...

Peter Pettigrew sat in the back of a pub in a Muggle town a few miles away from Godric's Hollow. As he took a drink from a glass of whiskey, he felt the hair on the back of his neck prickle ominously. He looked at the door and saw Sirius Black walk in, looking slowly at everyone in the pub. Pettigrew quickly threw some money down on the bar and made his way towards the back door, pulling the hood of his cloak over his head. He didn't notice Sirius walk back out the front door as he transformed into a rat and scurried out into the dark alley behind the house.

He had just reached a crossroads nearby when someone stepped painfully on him. Sirius reached down and picked him up, snarling, "If you think I wouldn't recognize a rat when I see him, you're even dumber than I thought." The rat began to squeak frantically and transformed back into Pettigrew, breaking Sirius' grip.

"Y-You don't u-understand, Sirius! You j-just don't understand!" the traitor squealed nervously, backing away from his angry former friend.

"Are you trying to say I don't understand betrayal?" Sirius said in a betraying calm voice, "I don't understand how betraying your best friend works?" Pettigrew stopped and began to look around nervously. Sirius walked forward a few more steps and bellowed, "YOU BETRAYED JAMES AND LILY AND HARRY AND CATHERINE TO YOU-KNOW-WHO AND NOW THEY MIGHT DIE BECAUSE OF YOUR STUPIDITY! HOW COULD YOU?!"

Pettigrew's eyes widened, and he whispered, "James and Lily are dead?"

Sirius looked like he might combust right there, "No, but they might BECAUSE YOU BETRAYED THEM!"

The rat Animagus' eyes darted around and finally rested his former friend. "I betrayed them?" Pettigrew whispered, trying to escape, "You were the one who decided to make me Secret Keeper."

"I did that because I thought they'd be safer that way!" Sirius bellowed.

"No, you did it to hide your betrayal!" Pettigrew shouted back, his confidence growing. Unbeknownst to Sirius, the rat Conjured a large, lit pack of dynamite behind his pack.

"I would never betray them, like I thought you'd never betray them!" Sirius shouted, finally losing his cool. He began to march towards Pettigrew, but the small man pulled the dynamite out from behind his back.

"Sorry, Sirius. Betrayal isn't forgivable..." Pettigrew mumbled, muttering a little more as he threw the dynamite at the intersection, where a tour bus had just pulled up.

Sirius watched in horror as the dynamite flew in slow motion at the bus and then at Pettigrew, who had begun to run. Thinking quickly, he sent a quick Stunner at his former friend, stopping him in his tracks, but as he pointed his wand at the dynamite to Vanish it, it exploded, taking the bus with it.

Sirius looked at the flaming bus and sent a Patronus to Dumbledore, telling the Headmaster that he was taking the rat Animagus into custody. He marched over to Pettigrew, kicking him a few times and weeping for the loss of what he believed to be a good friend.

...xXx...

AN: Enjoy!


	2. Book 1: Preparation and a Party

Disclaimer: I do not own _Harry Potter_ or anything related to J.K. Rowling's works except for my own original characters and storylines. The Hogwarts letter is taken from _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_, with a few minor edits to match the story.

...xXx...Chapter 2 – Preparation and a Party...xXx...

The Potters recovered well after the attack on their home by Voldemort and his followers. James was released from St. Mungo's after two days of rest and treatment for his legs. Lily was released three days after that since her injuries were much worse. The Weasleys took good care of Harry and Catherine, and the two kids almost seemed reluctant to return to their own home when Lily was finally well enough to come and get them.

While the Potter children were at the Burrow, the kids started to show early signs of bonding, and Molly Weasley immediately picked up on that with barely contained excitement. In the Muggle world, this would be considered highly unusual, but in the Wizarding world, it was not uncommon. Harry and Ron would always play with each other, usually by way of wrestling, whenever the two were within a few inches of each other. Ginny and Catherine also grew close, often playing with each other while the boys acted stupid or watching their brothers act stupid. However, the matriarch of the Weasley family often noticed some interaction occurring between Harry and her youngest daughter. When Ron and Catherine were preoccupied with other things, Ginny would crawl over to Harry and lay near him, and Harry would attempt to play with her. Molly was curious about how the two would be able to identify with each other at such an early age, even as Wizarding children, but she found it rather sweet and observed it without interrupting.

The Potters managed to fix their house back up to its original condition after James felt better, and Sirius and Remus aided them as much as possible. Dumbledore, along with Professor Flitwick, managed to redo all of the wards and charms on the home, except for a few that were in place long before the two old men knew of the house. Flitwick was intrigued by them and soon found out what they were through some of the Potters' books. When he still couldn't work on them, James told him that they could only be done by or with a Potter family member, so the two fixed those last wards together.

The Potter children grew up in a very diverse environment. James and Lily filled their mansion with both Muggle and Wizarding devices, so Harry and Catherine grew up with televisions, owls, video games, broomsticks, computers, and Fanged Frisbees, along with many other things common to both worlds. James, being a pureblood, had some trouble when Lily first introduced things like Muggle appliances, machines, and games, but he quickly learned to love them, especially when Lily found ways to integrate magical elements into them. As he grew older, Ron quickly grew to love all of the Muggle games that the Potters had whenever he came over to play, and he was able to beat anyone who challenged him. Ginny, however, stuck to making fun of his manic obsession and assisting whoever was challenged by him.

The Potters and Weasleys, along with the newlywed Blacks, became very close after that Halloween night. After a few years, once their youngest could walk and talk, James and Lily would often meet up with Arthur and Molly, and the two youngest kids of each family would have a grand old time playing with each other. Sirius and Lizzie would bring by Romulus whenever possible, and the young Black boy would play with the other children as well. Molly still noticed the interactions between Harry and Ginny as they grew older, but she told no one nor tried to stop them because she enjoyed watching it so much. She also noticed something on a lesser scale between Romulus and Catherine, but she didn't think too much of it. She just enjoyed watching the kids playing. And every so often, when Lily and Molly weren't looking, James and Sirius would sneak the Weasley twins, Fred and George, ideas for pranks. Needless to say, the tips were much appreciated by the twin terrors.

Voldemort was not seen or heard of after that fateful Halloween night. His followers began to disperse, and the Ministry of Magic began to slowly round them up, although a few managed to elude arrest through deception. The world slowly began to return to a calm state, no longer fearing what would be around the next corner.

...xXx...July 31, 1991, Potter Manor...xXx...

An eleven year old boy lay sprawled across his bed, snoring extremely loudly. His untidy, jet black hair just covered a (now scabbed over) lightning bolt-shaped scar, and his glasses lay on a bedside table nearby. His bed sheets were tossed haphazardly around the room, and various posters were hung up around the room proclaiming the Chudley Cannons, though not as fiercely and blatantly as his best friend's room.

The door to his room swung open, and a slightly younger girl strode unhindered into the room. Her long, red hair was slung into a loose bun, and her normally soft face had a sadistic smile plastered on it. Clutched in her hand was a camera.

"Oh, big brother!" Catherine Potter called out in a sing-song voice, "Happy birthday!"

Harry Potter mumbled something along the lines of a thank you, but he remained under the covers, still half-asleep.

"Mum says it's time for breakfast! She let me have her wand and told me some hexes to send at you if you wouldn't get up!" Crissy added, still with her sugary voice. Harry's head finally popped out from under the covers.

"Ever hear of letting someone sleep in? I'm giving you to the count of three to get the bloody hell out of my room, Crissy!" Harry seethed, "One..." Crissy shrugged and skipped out of the room. Harry grumbled a bit and sunk back beneath the covers, not hearing a shout of "Dad!" outside the door.

A few minutes later, the door flew open again. Harry was about to shout at the intruder when he flew out of his bed and was suspended in midair by his ankle.

As he slowly revolved upside-down in midair to where he was facing the door, he saw his father and his sister. James had his wand drawn and was grinning. Crissy was about ready to collapse due to laughing.

"Is this how you treat everyone on their birthday?" Harry asked weakly.

"No, but this is a special case. Might just do it for your birthday every year since you seem to like it," James replied with a smirk, "You want me to let you down?" Harry nodded eagerly, "Okay, then!"

James thought of the countercurse, and Harry dropped like a rock onto the bed rather roughly, sending sheets and pillows everywhere and giving Crissy another round of laughter.

"Okay, now that I've given your sister enough teasing ammo for the next year," James stated, drawing a smirk from his only daughter, "you really need to get up and come get some breakfast. Your mother made a great meal for your birthday, and I'd hate for it to go to waste. If you don't get down there quickly, I'm going to eat all of it, understand?"

Harry muttered some sort of reply, and James took it as a yes. He and Crissy left the room, but not before Crissy snapped a quick picture of Harry in his current position. She ducked out of the room just before a fake wand hit her.

Realizing that he wasn't going to get a minute's rest and that it was indeed his birthday, Harry slowly got up and went to get ready for the day. After getting a quick shower and finding some clothes to throw on, he ran downstairs and into the kitchen, where the rest of his family was waiting around a large table filled with various breakfast foods. Lily immediately descended on her oldest child when he entered the kitchen.

"Hello, Harry, happy birthday!" she said kindly, giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Harry smiled up at his mother before making a beeline for the table.

As he grabbed all of his favorites, Harry asked, "When am I getting my presents, Mum?"

"Later, after we get done at Diagon Alley," Lily replied. Harry pouted a little, but he didn't say anything else as he stuffed food into his eager mouth. James and Crissy sat down as well and began eating.

Twenty minutes later, Harry finished his share of the feast his mother concocted and took a long swig of orange juice. His parents and Crissy had already finished eating, and Lily was cleaning up the kitchen. James and Crissy were watching Harry eat like an animal, and Crissy absolutely loved watching her brother act that way. It gave her enough to tease him with for many days to come. It was even better when he and Ron were together because combined, the two could demolish a feast meant for an army.

Once Harry had stopped his food attack, James stood up and announced, "Okay, you two, get anything you need, because we're Flooing to the Leaky Cauldron in 20 minutes. Harry, I have your Hogwarts letter here. The owl delivered it while you were sleeping. I replied to it when it was delivered." Harry at least looked somewhat ashamed, but otherwise he was excited. He snatched it from his dad's hand and ripped it open. He pulled out the first sheet and began to read it, hardly containing his glee. Crissy ran over and read over his shoulder.

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The term begins on September 1. Reply by no later than July 31. If your birthday falls after that date, reply on the day of your birthday._

_Inside the envelope you will find an enclosed list of all necessary supplies and equipment._

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

Harry handed the first sheet to his sister, who eagerly began to reread it, and began to read the second one.

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Supply List_

_Uniform_

_First year students require:_

_1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

_2. One plain pointed hat (black)_

_3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_

_4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)_

_Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry nametags. School robes are to be worn during meals and during class. Students may bring Muggle clothing to wear during off periods and on Sundays or other days when class is not scheduled._

_Course Books__  
All students should have a copy of each of the following:  
_The Standard Book of Spells: Grade One_ by Miranda Goshawk  
_A History of Magic_ by Bathilda Bagshot  
_Magical Theory_ by Adalbert Waffling  
_A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_ by Emeric Switch  
_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ by Phyllida Spore  
_Magical Drafts and Potions_ by Arsenius Jigger  
_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ by Newt Scamander  
_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_ by Quentin Trimble_

_Other Equipment__  
1 wand  
1 cauldron (pewter standard, size 2)  
1 set glass or crystal phials  
1 telescope  
1 set brass scales_

_Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad OR a rat._

_PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEAR STUDENTS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS._

"Wow, this is so cool! Why can't I go, Mom?" Catherine asked when she finished the first letter.

"Because you didn't get a letter and you aren't old enough," Lily replied simply and with a sense of finality. Crissy put on her patented pouting scowl. "Pouting won't change anyone's mind, especially Professor Dumbledore's. Now you two get upstairs and get anything you need for the trip, and make it quick!" Harry nodded eagerly and ran upstairs to grab some things. Crissy threw herself onto the couch and grudgingly turned the TV on. She drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them.

James whispered something to Lily, and she went over to the couch while her husband went to gather some things for the two of them.

Lily sat down next to Crissy and asked, "What's wrong, honey?"

Crissy lifted her head and whispered, "It just now hit me that Harry's leaving, and I can't go with him. It's not fair..."

Lily nodded understandingly, "I know. You two have been together your whole life, and now he's leaving until next June." Crissy nodded silently as she watched a program.

"Well, think about it this way. He's only an owl away if you want to talk, and he'll probably send you letters anyways, so there's nothing to worry about. And he'll come home for Christmas, so you won't have to go too long without seeing him. Just tell me if you feel like he's not sending you enough stuff, and I'll make sure he gets back to you as soon as possible. You also have Ginny, since she's going to be in a similar situation. You two will have plenty to do while they're gone." Crissy processed this information, and she smiled a little bit.

"I guess you have a point. Thanks, Mom!" Catherine said quietly. Lily smiled, and the two sat and chatted until the men of the family returned from upstairs.

Harry and James came back downstairs 15 minutes later, just as Lily finished her work on Crissy's hair. "Okay, let's get going. Lily, the Floo Powder, if you please?" James asked as the family approached the fireplace.

Harry truly despised traveling by Floo Powder. One time when he was eight, he breathed in smoke and mispronounced the name of his destination. He ended up in a place fifty miles away from where the rest of his family was, and Harry was traumatized for the rest of his life. He could still use the green powder when necessary, but he really didn't like it, and he made that known quite often.

The Potters lined up in front of the large fireplace, and Lily grabbed a bag of the green Floo Powder from the mantle. She offered it to everyone, and they took a pinch of it.

"Okay, I'll go first," James stated. Walking over to the fire, he tossed the powder into the flames, shouted, "The Leaky Cauldron!" and stepped into the now green flames, disappearing in a puff of emerald smoke. Lily and Crissy repeated the procedure, and Harry was left alone. Taking a deep breath, he tossed the powder into the flames, which turned a light green like before. He nervously said, "Diagon Alley!" and stepped into the fire. He started to spin, and he felt like he was going to throw up when he landed, not too gracefully, in front of the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron. He immediately heard a bunch of people laughing at him, and he felt the blood rush to his face.

"Haha, nice landing, Harry!" a tall redheaded boy, the same age as Harry, guffawed.

"Bugger off, Ron..." Harry muttered as Crissy helped him to his feet. The first was Crissy, and she had a huge smirk on her face. Harry saw a photo in her hand before she quickly slipped it into her pocket.

"Hey, Harry," another redhead said nervously next to Crissy. That was Ginny Weasley, whose face was the usual red that it was whenever he was around. Even after all the years Harry had known the Weasley family, he still couldn't figure out why Ginny turned beet red around him. Whenever he tried to ask his dad, the only answer he got was his dad giving him a goofy grin and waggling his eyebrows at his son. Sirius would give him an exaggerated version of that reaction if he was around, which irritated his godson to no end.

As Harry walked over to join the group, his eyes scanned over the people gathered. His parents were there talking to two redheaded adults that Harry loved like a second set of parents. They were the leaders of the Weasley family, Arthur and Molly. Nearby, their children were chatting with each other. The twins, Fred and George, were going to be third years during the upcoming year at Hogwarts. They were a bunch of fun loving troublemakers who were currently desperately trying to get their older brother Percy to laugh at any jokes. Percy, who was very reserved and strict, was going to be a fifth year and Prefect at Hogwarts. Standing away from them was Harry's best friend in the whole world, Ron. He was waiting for Harry and the two girls to get over to where he was.

"Ron, you prat, it's not like you always come out standing up," Ginny reprimanded him. "Why, I remember one time when you came out in an awkward position and your pants-"

"Okay, I get your point!" Ron interrupted loudly, and Catherine and Ginny exchanged sinister grins.

"C'mon over, you four, let's go before Tom kicks us out for making too much noise!" James shouted. Indeed, the usually kindly barman was losing his cool with all of the noise. The four walked back over to join the large crowd of two families, and together, they went out back to the wall. James raised his wand and tapped a certain brick on the wall. The wall began to rearrange itself and turned into a gateway, revealing the giant Wizarding shopping district of Diagon Alley.

"This place gets better and better every time we come here!" Ron said in awe. The twins exchanged mischievous looks.

"Quit gaping, Ronniekins," Fred stated.

"Your face might freeze that way," added George. Ron scowled at the two of them as the large group walked through the gateway.

"Okay, guys, let's decide what we'll do," Lily said. The two families quickly talked amongst themselves to figure out what they needed to do.

"I think we should go to Gringotts first," Arthur replied, "Molly and I need some money to get Ron's things. What about you guys?" James pulled out his money pouch, and Lily looked quickly through her purse.

"I think Lily and I have enough combined for Harry's things, so we'll wait for you guys outside," James stated after quickly counting his gold. Lily nodded in agreement.

"That's fine," Molly responded. Turning to her kids, she asked, "Do any of you want to come with us?" Percy's face lightened considerably, and he immediately went to her side to escape the twins.

Fred and George smiled evilly and chorused, "We'll go with you, too, Mum!" Percy looked terrified, but their parents didn't object, much to the twins' delight.

Molly looked at her two youngest children next. Ron and Ginny exchanged glances, and Ron said, "We'll stay with the Potters. Is that okay?"

"That's fine, dear, just don't cause too much trouble," Molly replied kindly. She joined her husband and sons, and the group entered the giant Wizarding bank. James found a table at a nearby café, and the Potters plus two sat down to wait. The kids chatted about various things, while James and Lily read a copy of _The Daily Prophet_ that was lying nearby.

About ten minutes later, the five Weasleys emerged. Molly was yelling at Fred and George for some sort of prank they pulled inside involving Percy, a fake wand, and a Dungbomb. Percy did look sort of...unclean, and Fred and George were trying to look regretful, but it wasn't working.

"-those goblins will probably never let us conduct monetary business here again! I never want to see you do something like that to anyone else in a public place ever again! Do I make myself clear?" Molly screamed. Her face had turned completely red from screaming. Fred and George nodded, giving their mother their best solemn faces. Molly seemed to believe them and dropped the subject after seeing people starting to look at her. Of course, once she turned around, the twins dropped their sorrowful façade. The Potters and the two youngest Weasleys got up from the table and quickly rejoined the other Weasleys.

"Okay, guys, let's get the supplies, and then we can head on home!" Lily said quickly to draw the attention away from her friend, "I heard there's a party for a birthday boy at home!"

Harry nodded eagerly, and the families continued on to the stores. Harry and Ron were fitted for robes at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions (Ron's were secondhand) while the other children browsed. Unfortunately, the Potters and Weasleys had an unpleasant encounter with Draco Malfoy and his father, Lucius Malfoy. Luckily, James and Arthur steered their families clear of the Malfoys, who had a reputation of being associated with the Dark Arts.

Aside from that unpleasant encounter, Harry and Ron had fun in the other stores. They obtained their Potions supplies at the Apothecary and had fun looking at the odd ingredients, like eye of fly and ground hippogriff liver ("Great for Migraines!" a poster proclaimed). The twins had already told Ron and Harry about the dreadful Potions teacher at Hogwarts, but the two boys could only laugh at the interesting ingredients the store carried and think of the innumerous potions that they could be combined to create. All of the Hogwarts students in both families got their new books at Flourish and Blotts (Again, the Weasleys' books were used). The twins, Harry, and Ron salivated at the sight of the new Nimbus Two Thousand at Quality Quidditch Supplies. Ginny and Crissy shook their heads at the behavior of their brothers, though they seemed to have a hidden interest in the broom as well. While the boys looked at the various stuff, the girls snuck off and admired the Holyhead Harpies merchandise.

Finally, the large group reached Ollivander's. The Weasleys excused themselves to go to the Leaky Cauldron. Harry later asked his father why they did that since Ron would need a wand, and James replied that they didn't have enough money to buy Ron a new wand, so they gave him a hand-me-down from Charlie, which put a damper on things for the moment. The Potters entered the dimly lit shop, and a short old man with almost transparent skin and wispy white hair stepped out from behind some tall shelves.

"Ah, the Potter family. What a pleasant surprise! I thought I'd see you today," Mr. Ollivander said quietly. He had an odd air about him, like he knew things normal people shouldn't know. Harry looked questioningly at his father, but James just smiled and nodded towards the old man.

Mr. Ollivander looked at Lily and smiled, "Lily Evans, it is a pleasure...or should I say, Lily Potter! I remember your wand. Ten and a quarter inches, swishy, and made of willow, great for Charm work. I trust it's holding up well?" Lily nodded and got her wand out for Ollivander to inspect. He quickly gave it back to her with an approving nod.

Next he looked up at James and murmured, "James Potter, it's been so long. Your wand...eleven inches, pliable, and made of mahogany, if I recall, perfect for Transfiguration." James grinned and let Ollivander inspect his wand. The old man quickly returned the wand with a reprimand of cutting down on the pranking. James let out a bark of laughter.

"Does this guy remember everything that's happened since he was born?" Crissy asked her brother softly. Harry was wondering the same, so he shrugged neutrally.

Ollivander noticed the two kids and moved towards them. "Ah, young Mr. Harry Potter and Miss Catherine Potter, it is great to finally meet you two. I understand that Mr. Potter is starting at Hogwarts and needs his first wand, correct?" Harry nodded nervously. "Okay, then, let me get some wands, and we can begin to search for the right one for you." Harry nodded and sat down, thinking that he would get a wand and leave pretty quickly.

He wasn't even close. Harry swore that Ollivander had gone through at least fifty wands until he stopped and started murmuring, going into the very back of the store. He came back out with a dusty box and a curious look on his face.

"This wand is eleven inches long and made of holly, with a phoenix tail feather for the core, Mr. Potter," Ollivander said in a grave voice. He handed the wand to Harry, who gave it a quick flick, not expecting anything. Harry looked on in surprise as sparks flew everywhere out the end of the wand.

"Wow, one actually worked. I was thinking you were a Squib or something," Crissy snorted, earning a glare from Harry.

"Very curious...oh, yes, very curious..." Ollivander murmured over and over again, taking the wand back and packaging it up.

"Why is that?" James asked curiously.

Ollivander walked back over to Harry and looked up at his forehead where the famous scar resided. "Because the phoenix whose tail feather is in young Mr. Potter's wand gave one other feather," Ollivander intoned. He looked directly into Harry's eyes and continued, "And it resides in the wand that gave you that scar." Harry's eyes widened, along with everyone else in the room.

"So my wand is the same as his?" Harry asked. He now looked at the box containing his wand with uncertainty. Ollivander's eyes widened and he now looked horrified.

"Merlin no! Every wand is different. Just like how every individual person is different the wands are as well. Even though wands may have similar elements, no one is the same. That is why we may have to search so long to find the right wand. The wand chooses the wizard, as I always say," Ollivander explained. Harry looked much happier now.

"Okay, that makes much more sense," Harry replied. Ollivander repackaged the wand and walked to the counter. James handed the elderly man a couple of Galleons to pay for the wand. After thanking Ollivander, the Potters left the wand dealer and headed back to the Leaky Cauldron, where the Weasleys were waiting patiently.

"Okay, gang, I think someone has a birthday party, so let's head on over to our house. I think we might even have time for a pickup Quidditch game," James said, earning a whoop of joy from most of the boys present.

"Yeah, birthday cake and kicking some Potter butt in Quidditch, all in one day. Can't beat that!" Ron added. Harry quickly kicked Ron in the shin and looked innocent when Lily and Molly looked their way in response to Ron's grunt of pain.

"Shut up, Ron. Harry's better than you at Quidditch any day," Ginny added, looking over at Harry. Harry gave her a warm smile, forcing some blood to Ginny's cheeks.

"Okay, okay, you can kill each other when you get home and to the Quidditch pitch, so let's get going," Lily said sternly. The kids nodded meekly, and everyone crowded near the Leaky Cauldron's lone fireplace to Floo home. Harry went last and came out at Potter Manor stumbling. Crissy caught him before he fell down again, and Ron was cracking up. When none of the adults were looking, Harry made a rude gesture at Ron, Crissy stuck her tongue out at him, and Ginny punched him on the arm. Ron turned away and pouted.

The fireplace blazed to life again a few minutes later while everyone was sitting around talking. The green flames revealed Sirius, his wife Lizzie, and their son Romulus. Lizzie was a pretty lady, thin with long black hair and shining teal eyes. Romulus had his father's messy black hair and his mother's eyes.

"Hey, now that the party maker's here, we can really get going!" Sirius exclaimed, getting some laughter out of everyone.

"Of course, now we have just about the right amount of people!" James replied, standing up to greet his longtime friend. The two Potter kids, Ron, Ginny, the twins, and Romulus all began to get excited. Lizzie also looked like she was ready to play, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

Lily walked in, levitating three cups of tea behind her. Two of them went to Arthur and Molly, and the other she kept for herself. Noticing the pleading looks of over half the room, she relented and sighed. "Okay, Quidditch addicts. Go ahead; we'll have the party later on." James and Sirius quickly began to divvy everyone up into teams. One team consisted of James and Ginny as Chasers, George as Beater, Ron as Keeper, and Harry as Seeker. The other had Sirius and Lizzie as Chasers, Fred as Beater, Romulus as Keeper, and Crissy as Seeker. After getting some brooms for the Weasleys and Blacks to use, the groups started an intense Quidditch match that ended when Harry barely beat out his little sister to get the Golden Snitch for a 360-300 win.

As the Quidditch players came back inside, the fireplace flared back to life, and the third Marauder, Remus Lupin, entered the room. James and Sirius greeted him warmly, and Remus wished Harry a happy birthday. After sitting down for awhile, everyone sat down for a grand dinner made by Molly and Lily. As usual, the two redheaded mothers outdid themselves, and by the time dinner was over, the only thing anyone wanted to do was sit down and digest.

After dinner, the large group headed into the living room to sit down for a little bit before the presentation of gifts to the birthday boy. Harry was quite annoyed and settled for playing a round of Clue with Ron, Ginny, and Crissy until everyone else had sufficiently digested.

Arthur, Molly, and Percy gave Harry a set of specialty quills. Fred and George gave him a large suitcase full of merchandise from a joke shop they swore by named Zonko's. Ron got him a brand new set of Wizarding chessmen so Harry might have a ghost of a chance against the youngest Weasley boy. His parents and sister got him a set of books filled with fun and useful spells that can be used as jokes or in real life situations. Sirius' family gave Harry a messenger bag filled with multiple hidden compartments that were magically enlarged. Remus gave him a few Muggle science fiction novels that he knew Harry would love, which he did.

Finally, Ginny stepped forward with her gift, hidden in a small wrapped box. Her face completely flushed, she staggered over to Harry and shoved the box at him, looking at her feet the whole time. "Happy birthday, Harry," she said quietly. Harry carefully took the box. After unwrapping it, he lifted the top and gasped. It was a handmade leather bracelet. The ends were attached at a metal pendant of a lightning bolt, the exact replica of his scar.

"This is really cool, Ginny! Thanks!" he said happily, giving her a quick hug around her shoulders. Ginny's face lit up in happiness, though she stiffened up when his arm made contact with her back.

After the presents there was cake. Lily and Molly had made an extra large cake for the occasion, and everyone was full after that as well.

After talking a little while, the Blacks and Weasleys began to pack up and Floo home. After Romulus disappeared into the green flames, Lily led Harry and Crissy upstairs to get ready for bed.

After Crissy was in bed, Lily came in to say goodnight to Harry. She sat down on the edge of his bed and asked, "Well, did you have a good birthday?"

"It was the best ever. Thanks for everything, Mum!" Harry replied tiredly. He snuggled under the covers and closed his eyes. "Goodnight, Mum, see you tomorrow." Lily kissed her son on the forehead and walked out of the room, trying to fight the tears that were already on their way.

James saw the tears on his wife's face when she came back downstairs. "You're already missing him, aren't you?"

Lily nodded and collapsed in James' arms, crying her heart out. James held her close and thought of how much he would miss his son as well.

...xXx...

AN: Hope you enjoyed it!


	3. Book 1: Hogwarts

Disclaimer: I do not own _Harry Potter_ or anything related to J.K. Rowling's works except for my own original characters and storylines.

...xXx...Chapter 3 – Hogwarts...xXx...

...xXx...September 1, 1991, Platform 9 ¾...xXx...

"Harry, did you get everything on the train?" James asked. Harry hopped onto the train and took a quick peek in his compartment. He came back out and nodded yes. "Okay, then, I guess this is goodbye until Christmas." He leaned down and whispered, "Have fun, son, and try to prank some Slytherins for us. Just don't let your mum, Mrs. Weasley, or Lizzie know. They'd tan both our hides, and Sirius too by association." James winked and then held out his hand for Harry to shake, and his son did just that.

Lily, however, made more of a scene. While crying profusely, she gave her oldest child a hug and told him to behave and to listen to all of his teachers. Harry gave her an awkward pat on the back, kissed her on the cheek, and said his goodbyes. While his mother was still bawling, he watched the other mothers do the same thing to their children, and he felt a little better about letting his mother express herself. She finally released him, and Harry assured her everything was going to be alright.

Finally, only Catherine was left. Harry had regrettably forgotten about his sister until he was almost on the train. When he was stepping onto the train, he heard her shout, "Wait up, Harry! Don't forget about me!" He turned around in surprise and was immediately attacked by a red blur in the form of his sister.

"I couldn't forget about you, Crissy!" Harry said quietly while holding his sister.

Crissy looked up with watery eyes and asked, "Do you promise to write?"

Her brother laughed, "Of course! If at all possible, I'll write you a letter every week. Is that okay?" Crissy nodded happily and stepped back to dry her eyes. Harry gently kissed her forehead, earning him a playful push away, and he attempted to get onto the train again.

Harry heard a loud, familiar, female voice and looked over at the rest of the Weasley family. Molly was grilling the twins and Ron about something. Ron looked slightly embarrassed, while the twins looked like they were doing all they could to keep from laughing. He shook his head in amazement; Ron got lumped in with the twins for no good reason.

There was a loud toot from the train, and Harry said, "I guess I need to get on." Crissy started to tear up. Her brother quickly enveloped her into a quick hug and jumped onto the train.

Before he began to start to find a compartment, he heard Ginny shout, "Goodbye, Harry!" He turned around, jumped off and gave her a quick hug, and jumped back onto the train, waving one last time before entering the train's hallway. Ron and the twins followed behind him. The twins were looking at a piece of paper and snickering, and Harry made a mental note to ask about it, though he had a pretty good idea where it came from.

The train doors closed, and the engine roared to life. The Potter and Weasley families shouted their last farewells, and the train started moving. Ginny and Crissy ran to the end of the platform, waving goodbye to their brothers. Harry and Ron stuck their heads out of their windows and waved back until the platform was out of sight.

Harry and Ron pulled their head back into the train and settled into their compartment. They were looking through Harry's book of prank spells when a kindly old witch pushing a cart full of sweets came by their compartment. "Anything off of the trolley, dears?" she asked kindly. Harry looked over at Ron, who was grimacing at his meager savings and the sandwich in his hands, which apparently wasn't his favorite kind.

"We'll take a few of everything!" he replied, giving the witch a handful of gold. She nodded and let Harry take his pick of sweets. When he was sufficiently satisfied, she said goodbye, pushing the cart down the corridor to the next car.

The two boys were now surrounded by multitudes of sweets, including Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, and Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, and they were quickly gorging on whatever they could get their hands on.

"Hey, Harry, pass me a frog, will ya?" Ron asked when he couldn't find one in his immediate vicinity. Harry nodded, since his own mouth was full of chocolate, and he started to root around in his own piles of sweets. He eventually came up with one and tossed it to his best friend while swallowing the rest of his own frog.

"Hey, are you gonna miss everyone, Ron? I'm missing them already," Harry now stated quietly, looking down at his lap.

His Weasley friend stopped trying to pry open the packaging and looked a little forlorn himself. "Yeah, I will, but you know they'll only be an owl away." He gestured to the snowy owl sitting in the cage next to Harry. The owl had been a gift that James and Lily had popped on their son the day before. She was very quiet, and she seemed to have already bonded to Harry quite well, like when she had perched on the Potter boy's shoulder last night when he was presented with her. He had named the owl Hedwig after a name he had seen when he was flipping through some of his textbooks earlier in the week.

"Yeah, good point," Harry replied, feeling a little better, "Hey, Ron, you up for some Exploding Snap?" His best friend nodded and whipped out his deck of Exploding Snap cards. In no time, the two were fiercely involved in a came of Exploding Snap, involving Ron beating Harry time and time again and a multitude of singed hair and clothes.

The twins stopped by during the rambunctious game, and Harry remembered the paper they were looking at, so he asked, "I saw you two looking at a piece of paper earlier. What was that all about?"

The two looked at each other suspiciously. "You think we can trust him?" Fred asked.

"I don't know, Fred, he might not be worthy," George shot back.

"Well, it was from his father, George..."

"That's no excuse, Fred. His mother might find out, which means our mother finds out, and you know what that means."

"You make an excellent point, George, but he might call in the twin terrors to help if we don't spill the beans."

"Ah, in that case, I think we should let him see it, for our own health's sake." Fred dug out the paper Harry saw them looking at earlier and showed it to the two boys. "It's just a list of pranks that your dad somehow dug up. He didn't really know where they came from." Somehow, Harry didn't believe them in the least due to the smirks on their faces. The twins left a few minutes later after getting thrashed by Ron in Exploding Snap.

After an hour of mini-explosions and mass consumption of the sweets Harry bought, the door to the compartment opened again. A girl with bushy brown hair and large front teeth stepped into the compartment. She was already her Hogwarts robes, a fact that Harry and Ron noted with some amusement. She looked extremely harried, so when she saw the two boys among the sweets, she immediately asked, "Excuse me for barging in, but have either of you seen a toad. A boy named Neville Longbottom lost one and is looking for it."

Harry and Ron exchanged looked and shrugged. "Sorry, but we haven't," Harry replied.

The girl's eyes flickered up to Harry's forehead, and she started to bounce excitedly. "You're Harry Potter, aren't you? I've read about you in all sorts of books," she blurted out, "My name is Hermione Granger. I'm a Muggle born, but somehow I got a Hogwarts letter and here I am!" She stuck her hand out for Harry to shake. Harry looked over at his friend, but Ron covered his mouth to keep from laughing and looked away.

"Nice to meet you, Hermione," Harry said, shaking her hand.

Hermione smiled and turned to Ron, "And you are?"

Ron stopped laughing and said quickly (maybe a little too quickly), "I'm Ron Weasley. Nice to meet you too!" He put his hand forward for her to shake, but Hermione just smiled at him, not shaking his hand back. "Nice to meet you, too, Ronald," she said politely. Harry now had to stifle his laughing while all Ron could do was to glare at his best friend.

Hermione seemed to remember what she had come to do and exited the compartment. Before closing the door again, she turned back and said, "It was nice to meet you two, Harry, Ron. If you find the toad and see me, let me have it so Neville can stop worrying." Harry and Ron waved goodbye, and Hermione shut the door.

"Well...that was weird..." Ron commented once the door shut. Harry didn't have to hold back anymore and started cracking up. "What's so funny?"

"T-The look on y-your face was p-priceless!" Harry stammered breathlessly, "When she d-didn't shake your hand, you l-looked like she r-refused a marriage pr-proposal or something!" Ron looked around, found some Blood Pops, and threw them at Harry, which made him laugh even harder.

"Yeah, yeah, keep it up. I bet you won't be laughing when I trounce you in chess a few times!" Ron retorted.

Harry slowed down his laughing and, not being one to turn down a challenge, replied confidently, "I am going to beat you one of these days, you know!" Ron smirked and pulled out his chessboard and chessmen. Harry also got his chessmen out and exclaimed, "Get ready to lose, Ron." Ron just smirked wider.

Two hours and fifteen games later, Ron was grinning victoriously as he moved his knight into position, placing Harry into checkmate...again. "Yes! That makes sixteen wins for me, Harry!" Harry coughed and looked away muttering something about Ron getting lucky. Ron got a cocky grin on his face and added, "Want to go for another round?"

Harry was spared having to answer as the door to their compartment slid open, and Hermione walked in again. She looked down at the chessboard and commented, "Who was white? It looks like they lost badly."

"Um...that was me..." Harry muttered, putting up his hand. Hermione looked surprised and glanced at Ron for some explanation.

"Yeah, Harry's not too good at games like this. He's more of a physical sports kind of guy. I'd say he's the fastest boy on a broom for his age, followed closely by yours truly," the redhead explained, puffing out his chest in pride at the last part.

"Wow, I would never have guessed! I just assumed...well, you know!" the bushy haired girl exclaimed. Ron was momentarily stunned by being completely looked over, but he quickly recovered and clapped his best friend's back. Harry was slightly depressed for a moment but recovered at Hermione's lack of reaction to the last part of Ron's ramble. Hermione acted like nothing out of the ordinary had happened and continued, "Well, sorry for barging on your two, but the conductor just told me we're about five minutes from Hogwarts, so you two had better get your robes on."

Harry and Ron looked at each other and started scrambling for their robes. Ron gently pushed Hermione, who started protesting at the forceful treatment, out of the room, whispering, "Excuse us, we need our privacy." He slammed the door shut before the bushy haired girl could protest.

A few minutes later, Harry and Ron opened the door and saw, with mild amusement, Hermione still standing there with an indignant look on her face.

"Why did you slam the door in my face?" she asked angrily, her face slightly flushed. Harry and Ron shared amused looks.

"Well, I doubt you wanted to see a guy naked so early in your life, so we spared you that pleasure," Harry replied. Ron held back a wave of snickers. Hermione glared at them, albeit with a light flush to her cheeks, and eventually stomped off. A moment later, the train came to a complete halt, signifying the end of their trip.

Harry and Ron followed her off the train and onto the platform, where they heard a voice boom, "Firs' years, o'er here! Firs' years!" With grins on their faces, the two friends ran towards a huge man, at least eight feet tall, who was herding the first years towards the lake. He saw the two boys and said happily, "Hey there, Ron, Harry, great to see yeh!"

"Thanks, Hagrid, it's good to see you, too!" Harry replied excitedly. Rubeus Hagrid was a good friend of both the Potter, Black, and Weasley families, and the children of the families loved it whenever he visited.

"Well, yeh lot better get down ter the boats, ye hear?" Hagrid said. The boys nodded and ran down the path to the boats, which were already mostly filled up. They managed to snag the last boat, which contained Hermione and another boy who had a round face. He was clutching a squirming toad, which gave the boys an indication as to who he was. Hermione pretended to ignore the two boys when they sat down in the boat.

"Um, is it okay if we sit here?" Ron asked tentatively.

Hermione refused to look at them, but the round faced boy nodded with a smile on his face. When the two had sat themselves down, Ron leaned over and whispered, "Mental, isn't she?"

Harry nodded and turned to the other boy in the boat. "You're Neville Longbottom, aren't you?" The boy looked at him in surprise and nodded shyly.

"Um, yeah, that's me. You're Harry Potter, right? Hermione told me about you earlier," Neville asked, taking a quick look at the girl next to him, who was still pointedly looking away.

"Yeah, that's me," Harry sighed, "At least you aren't gaping at me like I'm some bloody rock star or something..." he shivered at the thought of that, "Oh, this is my friend Ron Weasley. Ron, this is Neville Longbottom." The two boys shook hands; Neville with some difficulty due to Trevor's squirming.

As the boats magically floated across the lake, the grand castle of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry came into view. Harry, Ron, and Neville were all impressed, but Hermione was absolutely astounded at the castle's vastness. She exclaimed, "I read in _Hogwarts, A History_ that this place had Muggle-Repelling Charms all over it, but to think that something this big can be hidden from the rest of the world, it's so hard to comprehend...I can't wait to start learning!" Harry and Ron exchanged doubtful looks, while Neville kept up his job as toad wrangler.

The boats slowly approached the castle and entered a tunnel underneath the castle that ended in a dock. A large and ornate set of stairs was off to the left. The kids were getting out of the boats and following Hagrid, who was already halfway up the large staircase. Harry, Ron, Neville, and Hermione got out of their boat, but unfortunately Trevor developed delusions of grandeur and hopped away, eventually heading and climbing the stairs.

"Oh, bugger. Trevor!" Neville exclaimed, running after the frog. Hermione quickly followed after him.

Harry and Ron exchanged glances and began their own ascent up the staircase, only to be stopped by three boys who had obviously waited for them to arrive. The apparent leader of the group was a boy with platinum blond hair and a pointed face that looked like the only expression it had ever had was some form of a sneer. The two boys on either side of his looked like stupid, miniature goons whose only purpose was to stand guard.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the great Harry Potter. It's truly an honor to meet such a celebrity," the boy sneered sarcastically, "We met in Madam Malkin's, but our fathers didn't exactly let us talk properly due to the circumstances, so let me introduce myself. My name's Draco Malfoy, member of one of Great Britain's premier pureblood Wizarding families. What do you say to stepping up to the high class society, eh?" He extended his hand confidently. Harry barely gave it a glance, and Ron stifled a cough.

Malfoy shot a glare full of disgust at the redheaded boy, "You must be a Weasley. It's dreadfully obvious, what with the red hair, freckles, and hand-me-down clothes and such. Potter would do much better without you." Ron's ears started to turn red, but Harry stopped him by putting his hand on Ron's shoulder.

"I'm fine with the company I keep, Malfoy, thank you. If you'll excuse us, we need to get going." Harry and Ron pushed their ways past the three boys and headed up the stairs.

After climbing what seemed like a million steps, the two boys managed to catch up to Hermione and Neville, who once again held a squirming Trevor. Hermione noticed them as they reached the top stair, breathing heavily.

"What held you two up?" the bushy haired girl asked.

"Eh, some prat named Malfoy held us up, nothing to worry about," Ron replied. Neville's face paled slightly, but no one noticed due to the impending Sorting.

The two large doors in the entrance area to the castle opened up to reveal a tall witch. She had a severe face, and her brown hair was gathered tightly into a bun. Hagrid stepped to the front and said, "Professor, here are the firs' years."

The witch looked up at the kindly big man and smiled faintly, "Thank you, Hagrid." She turned to the kids and said loudly, "Come this way!" She turned around and went back through the doors. A few brave kids started to follow her, and soon everyone began to follow the strict professor. As they entered through the doors, the room opened into a large dining hall. There were four tables, dividing the four houses at Hogwarts, and a large table perpendicular to the others at the end of the hallway. As the kids walked towards the end of the hall, Hermione was telling anyone who would listen how the ceiling was enchanted to look like the sky outside.

McGonagall stopped the first years in front of a stool with a ragged looking hat sitting on it. She pulled out a scroll of parchment and said, "When I call your name, please come forward, and I'll place the Sorting Hat on your head. When it selects your House, you may go sit with your housemates." McGonagall picked up the ratty hat and began calling names.

Harry perked up when McGonagall called out "Granger, Hermione!" The intelligent girl nervously walked up and sat on the stool. McGonagall placed the hat on her heat, and the hat growled, "You seem to be a smart one...hmm, I can easily see you in Ravenclaw...but I see a great future ahead of you...I think you'll be great in...GRYFFINDOR!" Hermione stood up happily and ran over to the Gryffindor table to join the other new first years there. Harry noticed out of the corner of his eye that Ron made a face of disgust.

The next name Harry was interested in was when McGonagall called out "Longbottom, Neville!" The shy boy, still clutching his frog, staggered to the stool. Harry heard someone drawl quietly about Neville's appearance, but he didn't need to turn around to know who it was. He felt Ron tense up behind him as well.

The hat growled, "Oh, a Longbottom. Haven't seen one of you in awhile. Your father was in Hufflepuff, but your mother was in Ravenclaw, so now you're making me think too hard. Hmm...I can see great things in your future, too...I'll say...GRYFFINDOR!" Neville grinned widely and went to join Hermione.

A few minutes later, the Sorting Hat shouted, after only a second on a head, that "Malfoy, Draco" was a Slytherin. Ron muttered, "No surprise there..."

"Potter, Harry" was called a minute later. Harry walked up to the stool, understandably nervous. He sat down on the stool, and McGonagall placed the hat on his head. Harry felt like everyone's eyes were boring into his head, even though he couldn't see them. He was absolutely right.

"So...another Potter. I bet you're just as bad as your father was, the bloody prankster. Thankfully, I can sense some Evans reason in there, so maybe you aren't completely lost to the soul of the Marauders. You do have the capacity for greatness, that's for sure. Slytherin might be just the place for you, you know!" the hat pondered.

'No, anywhere but there!' Harry exclaimed mentally.

"Are you sure? You could be great; many great wizards came from Slytherin." When Harry wouldn't budge, the hat continued, "Well, I guess it will have to be...GRYFFINDOR!" The Gryffindor table exploded in applause and cheering, and Harry could see the Weasley twins starting a chant of "We Got Potter!" as he walked to the table.

Finally, McGonagall got to "Weasley, Ron." Ron walked slowly up to the stool and sat down, scared stiff. When the hat touched his head, it immediately spat, "Bah, another Weasley. Your twin brothers were such a pain, and your other brothers were so different, it makes my tip swirl. I know exactly where to stick you...in GRYFFINDOR!" Ron got up, relieved, and walked to the Gryffindor table, where the twins assaulted him.

"All right, Ronniekins managed not to embarrass the Weasley family name!" Fred exclaimed.

"Not like Percy, who's a complete ice cube!" George added, apparently ignoring the elder Weasley who was sitting right next to him, scowling.

Dumbledore stood up and raised his hands to get attention. Instantly, the conversation began to dwindle. He smiled and said, "Hello, my students, and welcome to another year here at Hogwarts! Before the feast begins, I'd like to say a few of my favorite words: Nitwit, Blubber, Oddment, Tweak!" There was a lot of applause and laughter, and Dumbledore sat down as the food appeared on the tables.

"So that's what Dad meant when he said food appeared. That's pretty neat," Harry commented. Ron barely nodded, entranced by the mass amount of delicious food on the table. He began grabbing for everything he could get his hands on, and Fred and George began mocking him. Luckily, Ron didn't notice. Hermione was also marveling at the magic involved in the food, but she didn't test it out as thoroughly as Ron did, instead choosing to look disdainfully at the youngest Weasley boy.

After an hour of eating and socializing, including some of the best treacle tart Harry had ever had, Dumbledore once again stood up. "Hello, and welcome to another year of Hogwarts!" he announced. "Before you head up to your dorms, I'd like to make a few announcements. First, Quidditch tryouts will be held next Saturday throughout the day." Harry and the Weasleys, excluding Percy, perked up immediately and cached that information away. "Our caretaker, Mr. Filch, has a list of forbidden items posted on his office door. I daresay that the list will take awhile to read. The Forbidden Forest is just that. No one is allowed to enter without a teacher or staff member with them." He sent a pointed stare at the Weasley twins, who at least looked somewhat ashamed. "Finally, the third floor is off-limits to all students. You will not like the consequences of trying to figure out what's there." Hushed whispers began to break out in the Great Hall until Professor McGonagall loudly tapped her glass to regain the students' attention for the Headmaster to speak again. "Well, I do believe I've held you long enough. Prefects will lead the first years to their respective common rooms. Have a good night!" All four tables were quickly abandoned as all of the students stood up at the same time and headed for the doors.

Percy immediately leapt to action. He led the first years to the Gryffindor common room, announcing the password for the first years' sake. All of them were awed by the vast room, and Harry and Ron quickly went up to their dorms to meet their new roommates. Neville was already there, along with a dark-skinned boy named Dean Thomas and an Irish born boy named Seamus Finnegan. After getting to know each other and Ron fighting with Dean about his non-moving football poster, they got ready for bed and went to their respective beds.

Before Harry went to bed himself, he got out some parchment and wrote his letters for Crissy, like he promised.

_Crissy,_

_There's only one word to describe Hogwarts – awesome. The place is even more magical than I thought it would be. The castle is ten times cooler than people describe it in books. There's so much here to explore, and the Weasley twins have already told us a bunch of stuff to do here that Mum might not want to know about, if you know what I mean. I bet Dad knows a lot about what they're talking about._

_I'll try keep writing at least once a week, and hopefully I can find something to send to you as a souvenir. I doubt I can do as well as Fred and George with the toilet seat, but I think I can find a suitable replacement._

_Your favorite big brother,_

_Harry_

After finishing it, he drew the curtains around his bed and lapsed into dreamland, resolving to find the Owlery that his dad had mentioned first thing in the morning.

...xXx...

AN: I'm getting the feeling this will be a million chapters long... Hope you all enjoyed it! Don't forget to review!


	4. Book 1: Wood and the Seeker

Disclaimer: I do not own _Harry Potter_ or anything related to J.K. Rowling's works except for my own original characters and storylines.

...xXx...Chapter 4 – Wood and the Seeker...xXx...

Hogwarts soon started to reveal how awesome it was to Harry and Ron. Every day, as they travelled through the castle's corridors, they discovered more and more about the large building that they had never known about, and it was great. When the two went to their best information source, the twins, they acted like they had known about whatever they asked about for quite a long time. Harry personally suspected that his father, Sirius, and Remus would have known as well.

The first thing Harry and Ron had noticed was the community of ghosts inside the castle. Quite a few had greeted the first years when they had first arrived at the castle. It was always disconcerting when a pearly white figure floated out of a wall right in front of you as you were heading for class. The resident Gryffindor ghost, Nearly Headless Nick, was always happy to help out the first years if they got lost in the hallways while he happened to be nearby, but not all of the ghosts felt the same way. The Bloody Baron, the Slytherin ghost, didn't talk to anyone, without exception. He mostly floated through the halls, covered in silvery blood and rattling chains. At times, it even appeared as if he was avoiding the Gray Lady, Ravenclaw's ghost. She was a pretty young lady, but she always looked sad whenever the Bloody Baron came near. Hufflepuff's ghost, the Fat Friar, was a kindly old man with a girth as wide as he was tall. He was as kind to the first years as Nearly Headless Nick. In addition to them, there were other ghosts inhabiting the castle with no house alignment who could occasionally be seen floating through the hallways.

However, there was another apparition in the castle that was legendary for the worst reasons possible. Peeves the Poltergeist made his presence known to everyone immediately by flying through the corridors on the first day of school, throwing Dungbombs at everyone he could see. Argus Filch chased after the poltergeist with a broom, trying to stop him, but Peeves was not to be caught. Harry had learned from James before the year, when James was telling Harry the dos and don'ts of Hogwarts, that Filch was a Squib and therefore couldn't curse, hex, jinx, or shoot any spell at anything, at any time whatsoever. Instead, the cranky caretaker had to resort to hobbling around with his cat, Mrs. Norris, to try to capture Peeves. Needless to say, Peeves escaped more times than not.

The classes varied in interest and difficulty. History of Magic was probably the most boring thing Harry had ever had to suffer through in his entire life. Professor Binns, the ghostly teacher, droned on and on about Goblin rebellions, sometimes even repeating himself. Needless to say, Harry and Ron were soon fast asleep. Hermione Granger was probably the only one who paid any attention and took notes at the same time.

Charms was a different story. The tiny Professor Flitwick was very engaging. After roll call, he let the class try out any spells, but not hexes, jinxes, or curses, that the students had heard of or learned before coming to Hogwarts. Harry and Ron took that time to test out some of the spells they had learned from Harry's trick book, much to Hermione's ire, since she was trying to demonstrate the spells she had learned in _The Standard Book of Spells_. Professor Flitwick made sure Harry knew that he hoped that Lily's Charm work would shine through, and Harry couldn't help but hope so too.

Herbology was neutral in terms of how exciting it was. Professor Sprout taught the students all about the different magical plants and fungi present in the Wizarding world. Harry didn't find it all that interesting, but he did make a mental note that Neville seemed to come out of his shell more in that class than in any other environment the two had been in together.

Harry and Ron's first class on the Thursday after they arrived at school was Transfiguration with their Head of House, Professor McGonagall. Unfortunately, they were extremely late because they got a late start to the morning. It did not help that Peeves intercepted them outside the portrait hole and dive bombed them with Dungbombs. They were also not aided by the moving staircases, which moved while they were two-thirds of the way up. Needless to say, it took awhile for them to get back to the right hallway. When they finally found their way again and found the right classroom, they opened the door and stumbled into the room, stopping to take a breather. When they looked back up, the entire class was looking at them, up to the front of the room and sat down. The tabby cat that had been watching the class quickly turned into Professor McGonagall, who had a disapproving look on her face.

"Wicked..." Ron muttered in amazement before he could help himself.

"Thank you, Weasley, but I'd prefer if you and Potter were on time next time, compliment or not. I'll give you a break since it is the first day of class, so please take your seats," McGonagall said sternly with a look that placed no doubts in the minds of Ron and Harry. The two quickly sat down at the front of the classroom. At the next table over, Hermione gave the two a scathing look for interrupting the lecture.

"As I was saying," the stern professor announced, "Transfiguration is one of the most intricate, complex, and difficult form of magic taught at Hogwarts. I will not tolerate any horseplay in here. Now, please get out your quills and parchment. We will practice at the end of class, but now is the time for note taking, so pay attention." After some grumbling and multitudes of notes, McGonagall instructed Lavender Brown, a Gryffindor in Harry's year, to pass out some matches, which they were supposed to turn into needles. Hermione was the only one who could completely turn the match into a needle, but Harry and Ron were both able to alter the match slightly. Harry's match had a slightly metallic tint to it, and Ron's match had a small hole in it, similar to the eye in the needle.

However, by far the worst class was Potions, which was held the next day in the morning. It didn't help that the Gryffindors were stuck with the Slytherins, but the teacher was Slytherin's Head of House, Professor Snape. The twins had already told them this, but he played favorites only to the children from his House. From the first day, he was absolutely foul to all of the Gryffindors, but he was especially so with Harry. At the beginning of class, when he reached the Potter boy's name on the roll, he drawled, "Well, well, if it isn't Harry Potter...our new...celebrity." The last word was spoken with barely concealed spite.

Before Harry could respond, Snape shot a question at him, "Tell me, Potter, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Hermione's hand shot into the air, but Snape ignored it.

Luckily, Lily had made Harry look over his books before coming, so Harry knew the answer. "Um, it would make a potion called the Draught of Living Death, sir." Snape's eyebrows rose ever so slightly, but he didn't waste any time.

"Okay, then, where would you go to find a bezoar and what are its uses, Potter?" Hermione's hand stayed in the air, and Ron looked absolutely clueless.

Harry luckily knew the answer to that as well, "You can find it in the stomach of a goat, and it can be used to cure most poisons, sir."

Snape looked furious, but he was not discouraged, "What's the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

"Um...they're the same plant, sir..." Harry mumbled, keeping his eyes focused on his lap. Hermione was standing up at this point, and her hand was well on its way to touching the ceiling.

Snape noticed this, and he snapped, "Sit down, silly girl, before you earn yourself a detention!" Hermione let out a squeak and sat down, looking mortified. Ron looked like he wanted to say something but thought better and didn't.

"Five points from Gryffindor for Potter's cheek and Granger's hyperactivity," Snape spat. He turned around in a huff and stalked to the chalkboard, "Now, Potions is a class not to be taken lightly. In here, you can create concoctions that can make you as lucky as a leprechaun with an Invisibility Cloak or poisons that can kill with just a whiff. Now," Snape flicked his wand at the blackboard, and instructions appeared instantly, "begin work on a Boil Removal Potion. Hopefully one of you will be intelligent enough to get it partially right."

The rest of the class went as well as it could, considering the circumstances. Neville succumbed to a nervous breakdown when Snape was watching him and forgot to add the porcupine quills at the right time. This resulted in Seamus Finnigan's cauldron melting and the incorrect concoction inside to pour all over Neville.

"Idiot boy," Snape muttered, "Finnigan, please escort Longbottom to the Hospital Wing before he turns into a toad." Seamus quickly stepped around the greenish liquid and helped Neville, who had boils popping up everywhere on his body, out of the room. Snape then Vanished the potion, which was slowly beginning to vaporize. The greasy haired Potions teacher then chastised Harry and Ron, who were working nearby, about not helping Neville out, causing Gryffindor another hit in house points. The two were very relieved to get out of the hazy dungeon when the class ended.

Hagrid had invited Harry and Ron down to his cabin for a chat at breakfast, so the two headed down there after Potions, happy to have the company of someone other than Snape. Hagrid answered the door after driving back his rather large boarhound, Fang.

After politely refusing some of Hagrid's rock cakes (James had already told him and Ron about their potential danger), Harry noticed an issue of the _Daily Prophet_ on the table talking about a break in at Gringotts.

"Hey, Hagrid, what's this about?" he asked, pointing at the paper. The large man tensed up, but it went unnoticed.

"Oh, that. It's nothin' ter worry about, really," Hagrid said, though he seemed kind of on edge.

Ron piped up after appearing to remember something, "Hey, Hagrid, weren't you there the day the break in happened? We were there, too, and I think I remember seeing you coming out of Gringotts while our parents were in there."

"Um...well, ye see..." the kindly half-giant squirmed in his seat, "I was there ter get somethin' fer Professor Dumbledore, an'..."

"For Dumbledore? What was it?" Harry asked quickly.

"Don' worry about it, forget I said anythin'" Hagrid replied just as quickly and moved on to other subjects, like how their first few days had been. Of course, both boys didn't forget and made sure to investigate the matter.

...xXx...

The rest of the first week at Hogwarts passed quickly for Harry, and the next Thursday soon came around with a lesson the young boy was most excited for. The morning of his first flying lesson, Harry and his friends were eating breakfast when a barn owl swooped down and landed on Neville's shoulder, carrying a package. Neville, who was obviously confused, took the package off of the owl's leg and opened it up. The owl took off after taking a sip out of Neville's goblet of pumpkin juice. The Longbottom boy opened the package and took out a marble sized glass ball filled with white smoke and a note.

After reading the note, he exclaimed, "Gran sent me a Remembrall. It's supposed to turn red inside when I've forgotten something." Predictably, the smoke inside the ball began to turn into a crimson color. "Ah, bugger, I can't remember what I've forgotten..."

As Neville was trying to figure out what he had forgotten and Hermione was pestering him about the Remembrall, Harry and Ron got up and headed for their first class of the day, eager in anticipation of flying lessons.

Later in the afternoon, ten minutes after their last class of the day let out, Harry and Ron headed for the front of the castle, where the lesson on flying was to take place. Asides from Madam Hooch, the stern witch who was the Quidditch referee/flying instructor, the two boys were the first ones there, so they sat down against the wall and waited for everyone else to arrive.

Twenty minutes later, the class began, unfortunately with Slytherin being the other class present. Madam Hooch instructed everyone to hold their hands above the school brooms lying in front of them and say "Up!" When Harry did this, the broom came into his hand immediately. Ron's wobbled on the ground for a few seconds before coming up to his hand as well. Hermione's broom rolled around a little bit before ceasing to move at all, much to her displeasure, and Neville's broom didn't move at all. To Harry and Ron's pleasure, Malfoy's broom didn't move at all either, and he nearly punched Goyle in anger, who also wasn't having much luck. Since he didn't have anything to do, Harry looked around and saw that only two other people had managed to get the brooms into their hands the way Madam Hooch had told them. Both were Slytherins. One was a tall black boy, and the other was an attractive girl with curly brown hair. Harry remembered their names as Blaise Zabini and Daphne Greengrass.

Madam Hooch then set the kids on trying to fly. On her whistle, the class was supposed to get onto the brooms and lift a few inches off of the ground. Unfortunately, Neville got a little too excited and took off early, ending in him falling off of his broom and breaking his wrist. Madam Hooch went to get him, and she told the class that if anyone went into the air while she was gone, they would be expelled in a heartbeat. As soon as the instructor was out of earshot, Malfoy got a hold on Neville's Remembrall, which had fallen out of his pocket when the young boy had crashed into the ground.

"Well, well, well, looks like Longbottom lost something. Guess I should just appropriate it since he isn't here," the blonde boy drawled. Harry saw the item in Malfoy's hand and ran over to him, sticking his hand out.

"Give it here, Malfoy!" Harry said loudly, drawing all of the attention of the group to him.

"Well, if that's how you want it...why don't you come and take it from me, eh?" Malfoy retorted, quickly mounting his broom and taking to the air.

Harry immediately did likewise, despite Hermione's protests and grinning at Ron's opposing cheers. He quickly got up to Malfoy's height and faced the startled Slytherin. "So, you want to see who the better flyer is? Just to let you know, my dad was a star Chaser when he went here," Harry stated proudly.

"Yeah, yeah, I don't care whatsoever about your mangy family, Potter. But...if you think you're a better flyer..." Malfoy paused and then chucked the Remembrall as hard as he could towards one of the school towers, "...why not get that before it smashes! Later, Pottyhead!" Malfoy sped to the ground to avid cheers from mostof his fellow Slytherins.

Harry didn't spend any time looking at Malfoy and his cronies and instead pointed his broom at Hogwarts and sped off, as much as that could apply to a slow school broom, to catch the marble-sized ball. He managed to catch it a few feet away from the building and headed for the ground as well, to avid cheers from almost all of the Gryffindors. The Slytherins were in the middle of congratulating Malfoy when they heard the cheers and stopped abruptly, and Malfoy looked like someone had slapped him when he saw the Remembrall in Harry's hands. He threw his broom to the ground and began to march towards the Gryffindor swarm when the tall boy, Blaise Zabini, held out his arm and stopped Malfoy in his tracks.

"What are you doing, Zabini?" Malfoy hissed, "Did you see how he embarrassed us?" Blaise glared down at him.

"The only person embarrassing themselves is you. Potter did nothing," he replied simply. Malfoy's face flushed deep red, but he didn't pursue the conversation. With one last glare at Blaise, he stalked off to join Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson. Blaise paid them no mind and looked back over at the celebrating Gryffindors with an unreadable expression.

"Harry, that was bloody brilliant!" Ron exclaimed, slapping his best friend on the back. Harry grimaced, though nothing could take away the rush he got from flying. Ron's sentiments were echoed by most of the Gryffindors, male and female. Unfortunately, one was not impressed at all.

"Harry, that was completely irrational and extremely dangerous!" Hermione snapped, standing off to the side by herself.

"I told you. Mental, that one is..." Ron muttered. Harry heard other Gryffindors agree, and he even heard Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil muttering some awful things. Though he couldn't make out exactly what they said, he heard enough to know that they crossed the line.

Unfortunately, the Gryffindors' euphoria would not last, as a person came storming out of the castle and onto the lawn. As the person grew closer, the Slytherins began to smirk once again, and the hearts of the Gryffindors sank quickly.

"Mr. Potter! Will you please come with me?" Professor McGonagall said sternly, "You may leave your broom here. We won't be returning."

Harry gulped and set his broom on the ground. Behind him, Ron whispered, "It was nice knowing you..." which didn't help. He walked over to his Head of House. She nodded stiffly and turned around to walk back towards the castle. Harry nervously followed behind her, trying to ignore the Slytherins jeering at him as he walked by.

Since Professor McGonagall made no mention of where their destination was, so the young Potter decided to follow her until she said otherwise. He was suspecting that she was taking him to some torture dungeon, known only to teachers and kids who were especially bad, but she instead led him into the Entrance Hall and down a corridor to the left. After passing by some classrooms and going up a staircase, she stopped in front of a classroom and knocked on the door before letting herself in. Professor Quirrell was in the middle of explaining vampire venom when the Gryffindor Head of House asked, "Professor, may I borrow Wood for a few minutes?"

"O-Oh yes, of c-course!" the shaky professor replied. Harry feared "Wood" was some kind of torture device, but a burly fifth year walked out of the room instead to join them. He greeted Professor McGonagall and gave Harry a quick looking over.

"Come with me, you two," she said before she began walking down the hallway. The two boys followed her, Harry now thinking that she had gotten the fifth year named Wood to beat him up as punishment. She rounded a corner and entered an office, motioning for the other two boys to enter. She sat down behind her desk and waved her wand, Conjuring two wooden chairs for her two visitors. The two boys sat down and faced the stern professor.

She looked at Wood, and a small smile appeared on her face. "Mr. Wood, didn't you tell me that our Seeker had broken her leg?"

"Aye, she did," the fifth year replied with a Scottish accent. Harry noticed a look of sadness and what he thought was affection on his face.

"Well, I believe I have solved your problem, Oliver," Professor McGonagall said lightly. She turned her gaze to the other boy in the room. "Harry, I'd like you to meet Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain. Oliver, this is Harry Potter." Wood's eyes lit up in excitement, momentarily flicking up to the scar on his forehead before examining his frame.

"Oh, yes, I know all about the Potter Quidditch legacy. Your father was an excellent Chaser when he was here, wasn't he, Professor?" She nodded, the faint grin still present on her face. "I can tell he inherited good genes. He has just the right build for a Seeker – small and thin, but with room to build muscle and to grow. He'd be the first Seeker in a century to be a first year, but I can tell he will be an excellent Seeker as he gets older."

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. He might have heard wrong, but it sounded to him like Wood wanted him to be the new Seeker, and his strict Head of House was on the verge of going along with it. Professor McGonagall noticed his nervousness and turned her attention back to the younger boy. "Harry, this may come off as a little blunt, but would you be our new Seeker?"

"I'd love to!" the young Potter blurted out before catching himself. He covered his mouth with both hands and looked mortified, but the tension was broken when McGonagall unexpectedly chuckled a little.

"I guess I expected this. Potters love their Quidditch, after all," she said, "There's only one thing – please win the Quidditch Cup for us!" The urgency in her voice surprised Harry. "Severus never passes up a chance to tell me how he's had the Cup in his office for the past six years, and I want to get him back."

"I-I'll try, Professor," Harry replied nervously, now feeling like she had set all of the responsibility of the team on him.

"Thank you, Harry," she said sincerely. Harry noticed the use of his first name. "Since there's not much time until the end of class, you may go back to Gryffindor Tower until dinner time if you would like. The same for you, Oliver." The two boys nodded, got up and thanked her, and left the room. Wood said goodbye before heading back to his Defense Against the Dark Arts class, since it was nearby. Harry headed the other way, towards the main chamber of staircases so he could make his way back to Gryffindor Tower.

With only a minor run in with Peeves outside the portrait hole, Harry entered the common room, which was cleared out of all students. He went to his room and pulled out a piece of parchment so he could scratch out a quick letter to his parents with his good news. He quickly wrote the introduction, but he stalled when he reached the events that led up to him being made the new Gryffindor Seeker. He finally decided to not tell his parents exactly what happened, and he hoped that Professor McGonagall didn't decide to send them a letter as well.

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_You'll never believe what happened today! I was in my Flying class today, and I had gotten ahead with my work, so Madam Hooch let me fly low for until the end of class. I was trying out some basic Quidditch maneuvers that Dad showed me, and Professor McGonagall came running out and pulled me out of class. Apparently Professor McGonagall saw me flying through her window, and she took me to her office, where she introduced me to the Gryffindor Quidditch captain. She asked me to be the new Seeker since the current one was injured, and I agreed!_

_Love,_

_Harry_

...xXx...

Harry hurried down to the Great Hall after sending Hedwig home with the letter. He managed to get a seat next to Ron, who was about to burst out of his skin with anxiety. He finally let go of his restraints when Harry began to reach for food.

"Harry, where were you? What'd McGonagall do to you? Did she kick you out? Did she kick Malfoy out?" Ron exclaimed through all of the food stuffed in his mouth, finally throwing his hands up in exasperation. Hermione looked at him disdainfully when he started to talk with his mouth full, but she was soon shielding her face when bits of food sprayed from Ron's mouth towards her.

"You won't believe it. I'm now Gryffindor's new Seeker!" Harry said happily as he shoveled food onto his own plate. Ron's eyes widened, and he soundlessly swallowed the food in his mouth, momentarily forgetting about the food in front of him.

"Are you serious? You have to be about the youngest Seeker in..." Ron began blabbering, but Harry interrupted him with a grin on his face.

"In a century. Wood told me when I met him," he added to Ron's statement. Ron's eyes bugged out, and he slapped his friend on the back as a friendly gesture.

While they were chatting, three Slytherins came up behind them and stood behind the two boys. Hermione noticed them and began motioning to Harry and Ron until they noticed. She pointed behind them, and the two turned their heads. "Well, well, Potter, enjoying your last dinner here?" Malfoy drawled, flanked by the hulking Crabbe and Goyle.

Harry's grin widened even further, and Ron chuckled. "No, I'm not, unless I wasn't informed. Actually, Malfoy, I was telling Ron about how I'm the new Gryffindor Seeker. Great, isn't it? And it's all thanks to you." Malfoy's face turned beet red, and an angry scowl appeared as well, but he didn't miss a beat.

"Lucky bastard..." he muttered. "Well, you know I can't let you get away with insulting my pride like that. I'd like to offer you a challenge. Do you know what a wizard's duel is?"

Harry and Ron both knew exactly what a wizard's duel was. They also knew exactly what their mothers would do to them if they knew that their sons had participated in one. However, Harry had had just about enough of Malfoy and his attitude, so he coolly replied, "Yeah, I do. What about it?"

Malfoy momentarily looked surprised, but that was quickly replaced by him looking like Christmas came early. "Good, then. Tonight at midnight, in the trophy room. Crabbe's my double, and I guess Weasel there is yours. I'll be waiting, Potter." With that, he stalked off, with his two "bodyguards" lumbering behind. Harry and Ron waited until they had sat down at the Slytherin table before turning their attention back to their dinner.

"Um, excuse me..." Harry and Ron both looked up and across the table at Hermione, who was looking a little nervous and apprehensive, "You aren't really going to duel Malfoy, are you? You two could cost us more house points, you know."

Harry and Ron shrugged, even more excited for the adventure.

...xXx...

After dinner, Harry and Ron went back to the tower and worked on their homework in their room, trying at all costs to avoid Hermione and her rants about their behavior. After they were done, they waited up in their room and played a few games of chess until about quarter till midnight. Unfortunately, as they tried to sneak out of the Gryffindor common room, Hermione, who had been lying on the couch, caught them and insisted on coming along. They tried to get her to stay in the common room, but she wouldn't budge, so they were forced to let her come as well. When they got outside the portrait hole, they found Neville, who had come back from the Hospital Wing. He had been sleeping outside because the password had changed during his absence without him knowing. He was immediately curious as to why they were leaving, so he soon joined their party.

The group slowly made their way to the trophy room, luckily never seeing Filch and Mrs. Norris, and arrived a few minutes after midnight. Hermione and Neville stayed close near the exit, trying to stay out of sight, but Harry and Ron looked around and noticed the obvious.

"I think Malfoy stood us up," Ron whispered nervously. It was obvious that there was no one in the trophy room asides from them. On the off chance that the Slytherins were just running behind, the group of four stayed for a few more minutes. Unfortunately, as Harry wandered near the entrance on the other side of the room, he noticed that the light at that entrance seemed to grow lighter, and Harry soon realized what the cause was.

"No, I think he set us up. Listen!" he hissed back. Indeed, the sound of footsteps began to grow louder, and the light from the entrance grew brighter as well. Hermione and Neville quickly moved closer to the two boys.

The light continued to grow lighter until a lantern appeared, grasped in the hand of Argus Filch. Mrs. Norris slinked along besides him. "I think there are students out of bed in this room," he said maliciously, "Sniff them out!"

Harry and Ron immediately grabbed Neville and Hermione and ran out of the other entrance of the trophy room as quietly as possible. Hermione cast a Locking Charm over her shoulder to lock Filch in the room. The four Gryffindors ran down the hallway until they ended up at a locked door. Ron yanked at the door, but it was locked tight. "Bloody hell, the damn door's locked! Filch will be here anytime now!" he whispered frantically.

"Move!" Hermione hissed, shoving the redhead aside. She pointed her wand at the door and whispered, "_Alohomora!"_ The lock clicked, and Hermione pulled the now open door open. The three boys didn't need to be told to rush into the room, and Hermione followed them, shutting the door behind her.

"Phew! I thought Filch had us for sure!" Ron said in relief. The four collapsed onto the floor, facing the door, to try to catch their breath. After a few moments, a low rumbling noise behind them punctured the relative calm. "What was that?" Ron asked nervously.

"T-T-There's something b-b-behind us..." Neville stuttered. They turned their heads collectively, and saw a horrific sight. A three headed dog was rising to its feet behind them, and all three heads looked extremely angry at being woken up.

"Bloody hell..." Ron gasped. Harry reacted quickly, wrenching open the door again just as the dog began to pounce. Hermione, Ron, and Neville half ran, half crawled back outside, and the boys held the door closed while Hermione used a spell to relock the door. The group ran back to Gryffindor Tower, stopping only once to wake up the Fat Lady and tell her the password. Luckily, they never encountered Filch.

Harry and Ron collapsed onto the couch, and Hermione and Neville fell into separate armchairs. "Okay, what the bloody hell was that, and why was it in the castle?" Ron spluttered. Under other circumstances, Harry would have retorted, 'A dog,' but somehow the situation didn't seem appropriate.

"It obviously had a reason for being in there! Did you not pay attention, Ronald?" Hermione snapped back.

Ron looked at her incredulously, "Are you daft? I was trying to save myself from becoming puppy chow, thank you very much!"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "The dog, if it could be called that, was standing on a trap door. Now, if you three will excuse me, I need to go to bed. Hopefully this will teach you not to go out on any more harebrained schemes!" She promptly turned around and marched up to the girls dormitories.

"Mental that one is...I'm going to bed. I've had enough excitement for one day. See you tomorrow, Harry, Neville..." Ron muttered before making his way up to bed. Neville muttered something along those lines and followed close behind, leaving the Boy Who Lived to sit and think. The only thing he could come up with, however, was that the trapdoor was guarding the thing that Hagrid had gone to Gringotts for. He eventually decided to forget about the dog and go to bed.

...xXx...October 1, 1991, Potter Manor...xXx...

"Hey, James, could you please get that? I'm still a little busy with lunch," Lily shouted from somewhere in the kitchen.

"Yeah, it's probably Sirius, Lizzie, and Romulus!" James shouted back. He slowly got up from his armchair and entered into the main east-west hallway, ending up in the foyer a few feet away. "We really need some house elves. I know it goes against the family honor code and all that, but they are useful," he muttered as he opened the front door. Sure enough, the Black family stood at the front door.

"Hey, Padfoot, great to see you!" James exclaimed, giving his best friend a man hug. Sirius returned it with gusto.

"Great to be here!" he replied happily, walking in with his arm around with his wife. His son walked in behind him, pointedly ignoring his lovesick parents.

James smiled down at him as he offered his hand, "Romulus, it's good to see you." Romulus smiled back and shook the proffered hand. James turned his attention to the black haired woman in Sirius' arms. "Lizzie, looking beautiful as always."

Lizzie smiled slyly at him, "Careful, James, you might steal me away. Sirius might be angry about that. He can get pretty vicious when he's angry."

Her husband let out a bark of laughter, "That's alright. If Prongs steals you away, I'll seduce Lily Flower." The three friends all started laughing. Romulus tried to ignore the adults, instead finding his shoes very interesting.

"Did someone say my name?" Lily asked as she walked into the foyer, wiping her hands on the apron she was wearing.

Sirius released his wife and crossed the room quickly, putting his arm around Lily instead, loudly whispering, "We were just discussing how James was going to steal my wife away and I was going to seduce you with my charm."

Lily swatted the arm of her husband's best friend away, though her face did have a small smile on it. "I didn't know James wanted to be hexed for leaving me," her husband's face gained an expression of mock fear, "and I don't think Sirius wants me cursing him for trying to seduce me with his manly charm." Sirius made a point of winking extravagantly, and all four adults broke out in laughter. Romulus was still trying to ignore them, but Lily walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Romulus, if you'd like, you can go downstairs to the game room. Catherine is over at the Weasleys', but she should be back in a few minutes." The young Black nodded and trotted off to the down staircase, soon disappearing from view.

"Well, I finished lunch right before I was about to be seduced away, so come on in to the living room," Lily stated, ushering her guests through the first floor to the living room, where a large tray of sandwiches and a few pitchers of beverages lay on a table. James and Sirius quickly made tow plates full of food, poured themselves glasses of pumpkin juice and Coke, respectively, and sat down on the couch. James flipped on ESPN, and the two were soon engrossed in the soccer game on TV. Lizzie and Lily took their time getting some food and drink for themselves, and they sat down at the chess table, using the chessboard as their tray. The two women were soon chatting about the latest in Muggle and Wizarding fashion.

...xXx...

About ten minutes later, the fireplace in the foyer blazed to life, and two redheaded girls tumbled out. "Hey, Mum, we're back!" Catherine Potter shouted as Ginny Weasley dusted herself off.

"Hi, Crissy! The Blacks are already here, and Romulus is down in the game room!" her mother shouted back from the living room.

"Thanks!" the young redhead replied. She made sure her clothes were free of soot before turning to her best friend with an evil grin, "C'mon, let's go give Rommy a scare!"

"You know that won't work. His dad was a Marauder, and you know how Fred and George adore them," Ginny replied as they made their way to the staircase.

"You're forgetting my dad was a Marauder, too," Crissy pointed out. Ginny shrugged, knowing not to argue with her friend when she was in a pranking mood. She eased open the door, and the two redheads crept down the staircase to the game room.

When they reached the lower level, they saw Romulus playing a game of straight pool. His back was turned to them, and he didn't seem to realize the two extra presences in the room, so the two girls slowly crept up on him until they were right behind him. Crissy went first and tried to tackle him, but the Black boy pulled his stick back right as she jumped, and the end hit her right in the stomach. She clutched her stomach, and Ginny began to approach her friend, but Catherine was in a fighting mood.

"Ow! Prat!" she snapped, punching the lone boy in the room on the arm. Ginny wisely backed off, sensing another row in the making.

"Oh, Crissy, didn't notice you back there," Romulus said, turning around. His face certainly didn't show any surprise, which Catherine unfortunately picked up on.

"Didn't notice my ass! You did that on purpose!" she screeched, trying to steal the stick out of her friend's hands.

"No, I was trying to play billiards, but apparently someone decided to sneak up on me right around the time I tried to make a shot," he retorted, wrenching the stick out of Catherine's hands.

"I hate you so much, Romulus Black!" she cried, punching him again in the arm before running back upstairs.

Romulus stared at the stairs for a moment before turning his gaze to the lone redhead left in the room. Ginny shrugged and sighed, "Don't worry. She'll be back before you know it." She waved and ran upstairs after her friend.

Romulus watched the stairs again for another few minutes before returning his attention to his billiards game, muttering, "Girls..." and shaking his head.

...xXx...

AN: Hope you enjoyed it! Don't forget to review!


	5. Book 1: Friends for Life

Disclaimer: I do not own _Harry Potter_ or anything related to J.K. Rowling's works except for my own original characters and storylines.

...xXx...Chapter 5 – Friends For Life...xXx...

The next day, Harry and Ron went down to the Great Hall and ate breakfast, internally cracking up at the looks on the faces of Malfoy and his lumpy bodyguards. They had obviously planned on the two not being present that day, but they were terribly wrong. Malfoy almost choked on his toast when he saw Ron and Harry walk through the doors of the Great Hall, and Crabbe and Goyle could have passed as fish as they gaped wordlessly.

Thankfully, Malfoy left them alone for the most part for the next few days, only spouting his usual insults when he passed Harry or Ron in the hallways. Harry was growing increasingly more anxious to hear back from his parents. It was mostly to see what their reaction would be, especially his father's reaction. However, he also wanted to see if McGonagall had sent his parents a letter as well.

Ron and Harry were eating breakfast a week later when the rush of morning time owls came, bringing many owls and the packages they carried to their rightful owners. Surprisingly, a couple of owls flew down and landed on the Gryffindor table in front of Ron and Harry, carrying a long, thin package. Harry recognized the one not carrying the package as the Potter family owl, Lancelot.

"Bloody hell, I think I know what this is, Harry..." Ron stammered, recognizing the shape of the package, "Open the letter and see who sent it to you." Harry had a good idea what it was as well and who had sent it to him, so he look the letter from Lancelot's leg, ripped open the letter, and began reading the letter, which began in his father's familiar scribble.

_Dear Harry,_

_Professor McGonagall contacted us about your achievement _(Harry's stomach flipped over when he read that)_, and we got your letter as well. Sorry about not getting back to you sooner, but your Mum and I had to do some shopping first, which took longer than we expected. First of all, that's a seriously rare feat, managing to rope a position on a House team at your age. You're really living up to the Potter name!  
_

Harry noticed the handwriting changed over to his mother's flowing script at this point.

_**While James has a point, it still isn't right about HOW you got the position, which you conveniently happened to change in your letter. Rule breaking isn't an excuse, and we will have a talk with you about it at a later point.**_

_Okay, I guess we do have to talk to you, but that doesn't change the fact that we are very proud of you. Now about the package – since McGonagall and Dumbledore thought that the House brooms weren't going to cut it for a Seeker, they told us we could send you your broom from home. However, just consider what's inside an early Christmas present/late birthday present from your mother and me. I saw you looking at one in particular when we went to Diagon Alley on your birthday, so I think that you'll be pleasantly surprised._

_**Okay, Harry, keep up with your studies, and don't keep up the trend of rule breaking, or I'll have to castrate your father and his friends for implanting those ideas in your head. Just don't forget we love you, be careful, FOLLOW THE RULES, and we'll see you at Christmas break.**_

_Love,_

_Mum and Dad_

Harry let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, though he did snicker at the threat his mother gave at the end. Ron snatched the letter out of his hands and read it, eventually looking at Harry with a huge grin on his face.

"Wow, Harry, this is great! Now we're a shoo-in for the Quidditch Cup!" he exclaimed. "Let's go up to our room and take a look at it!"

The two quickly stuffed a few final bites into their mouths and ran for the Entrance Hall, ignoring Hermione's pointed glares. As they were heading for the stairs, they heard a familiar drawl behind them. "Hey, Potter, what's in the package?"

Harry and Ron stopped and turned around to face Malfoy. "Why do you care, Malfoy? It's just a package from my parents," Harry snapped back.

The pale blonde's eyes lingered on the wrapped present before locking back onto the two Gryffindors. "You know first years can't have broomsticks, Potter. You're in so much trouble once I tell Professor Snape." He began to march towards the two.

"Is there a problem, boys?" a squeaky voice said at the bottom of the stairs. Malfoy stopped and whirled around to glare at the intruder, but he stopped short when he saw that the person who interrupted them was Professor Flitwick. Harry glanced at Ron and gave his friend a devious grin.

"No problem at all, Professor. I was just thanking Malfoy for getting me onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team," he said happily.

The tiny professor shook with barely concealed excitement. "Oh, yes, I heard about that. Congratulations! Is that your broom from home? I heard Professor Dumbledore was letting your parents send it in," he noted.

Harry shook his head. "No, it's an early Christmas present. I think it's a Nimbus Two Thousand, based on what Dad said in his letter." Malfoy's jaw dropped to the floor, and Ron was close to losing it.

"Oh, that's great. Send my regards to Lily next time you write home, and congratulations again!" the tiny professor squeaked before walking into the Great Hall. Harry and Ron smirked at Malfoy, who looked like someone had smacked him, before continuing on their journey back to the tower.

After nearly shouting the password at the Fat Lady upon the arrival, Harry and Ron bolted up to their room and carefully unwrapped the broom on Harry's bed. The new Nimbus Two Thousand rolled out of the packaging onto the covers, and it was truly a sight to behold, with its shiny handle, perfect bristles, and custom nameplate.

"Merlin, Harry, this broom is amazing..." Ron breathed. He carefully picked up the broom and inspected every inch of it. Harry gazed at the broom with just as much intensity as Ron. They remained there for quite some time until Neville came into the room to retrieve his bag.

"Um...is everything alright?" he asked uncertainly. The two Quidditch addicts snapped out of their trance and quickly stowed the broom away in Harry's trunk. They picked up their bags and left the room, leaving Neville extremely confused.

...xXx...

Later that day, after classes had finished up, Harry grabbed his broom from his room and went down to the Quidditch pitch to meet with Wood. He wasn't there yet, so Harry mounted his broom and took to the skies. He flew around for a few minutes until he saw something out of the corner of his eye zooming towards him. He quickly stuck his hand out and plucked the object out of the sky. When he looked at the object, he saw that it was a golf ball. Harry looked at where the ball had come from and saw Wood standing on the ground with a bag full of balls.

"Well, you passed the test, Potter, but can you do it again?" he asked.

"Try me!" the young Seeker retorted.

"Suit yourself. I didn't throw that ball very hard." Wood reached into the bag and fired another ball into the sky, in the opposite direction of where Harry was. The younger boy was surprised for a moment, but he quickly gained his bearings and shot towards the ball, snatching it out of the sky only seven seconds after it was thrown. Wood began to wing the balls into the sky, one by one and in difficult places for Harry to reach. Harry managed to snag every single one, which made Wood extremely happy. The captain decided to change up the practice by tossing two balls into the sky when it soon became obvious that Harry was getting bored with only one ball to catch. When the bag of balls ran empty, Wood called Harry back down to the ground.

"Well, Potter, it seems that McGonagall has good taste. We're all counting on you for Gryffindor to have a good season," Wood said proudly, "You can go back up to the tower. I'll clean up the mess we made out here." Harry nodded and took to the skies again, flying the rest of the way back to Gryffindor Tower in his euphoria.

...xXx...October 31, 1991...xXx...

Harry was rudely awakened on Halloween by a soft object whacking his face. When he threw off the pillow, rubbed his eyes, and blearily looked around, he saw Ron shaking him awake, already fully dressed.

"Wake up, Harry! We need to get downstairs. Fred and George told me that the kitchen sends up extra good food on Halloween, and I don't want to get down there and have it all gone!" he said anxiously. Harry gave his best friend an incredulous look.

"Is that the only reason you woke me up? For food?" he snapped.

Ron at least had the decency to look slightly embarrassed. "Well, I thought it was a good reason. Besides, it's not really that early. Class starts in an hour..." he trailed off as Harry grew increasingly more irritated.

"I'll be down later..." he muttered before drawing the curtains around his bed closed, locking Ron out. He heard his friend mess around with his trunk, presumably getting his school things together, before he heard the door open and close. There was no other noise in the room, so Harry assumed that either everyone else was gone as well, or they were still sleeping.

Harry tried to go back to sleep, but he was unable to. Instead, he got up, took a shower, put some clothes on, and gathered his belongings. He walked to the common room and noticed it was completely empty before exiting the tower. When he got downstairs to the Great Hall, he walked to the table and threw his stuff onto the ground before sitting down. Ron already had a plate full of food and had begun to dig in. When Harry sat down, his friend stopped his rampage and looked tentatively at him.

"Um...is everything alright? You seem edgy today," Ron muttered.

"Yeah, it's the annual Halloween thing, remember?" Harry whispered back, wary of eavesdropping ears. Sure enough, Hermione was pretending to read a book nearby, but she glanced at them over the book every few seconds. The light bulb went on in Ron's head so Harry didn't have to say another thing.

As the young Potter got a few eggs and bacon, the owls came fluttering in. To Harry's surprise, Hedwig came down and landed on his shoulder with a letter tied to her leg. He slowly untied the letter, and the snowy owl took some of his pumpkin juice before flying off. He looked at his name on the front of the letter, and he was pleasantly surprised to see Ginny's handwriting on the letter.

_Harry_,

_It's me again. Hopefully you aren't getting too annoyed with me constantly writing to you. It's just kind of boring around here without all of my idiot brothers to annoy, so I write letters instead. Go figure. _

_Don't let anyone else know about this (especially Ron, since he was always complaining about it), but Mum's been letting me practice spells with her wand. She actually has learned something from Fred and George using underage magic. She thinks that the Trace on underage wizards is weakened in a Magical household to a point where they won't get after you unless they have hard proof. Besides, I'm her favorite, so she does stuff with me that she can't do with my brothers. That's good, because now I'm getting to learn really neat hexes and stuff. And yes, I'm teaching Crissy all of them. Mum said she thought I was the "appropriate heir" to all of the hexes she's learned. I'm not complaining, especially not since Mum told me she was a dueling champion back in school._

_The weepy part will be short, so I don't have to take up your time acting all sad and whatnot. Don't get all down in the dumps about today. I know how you get today (and don't try to deny it), so all I'm going to say is to try to not let it get to you._

_Okay, to follow my own advice, I might as well leave you on a good note. As soon as you read __**this-**_

Harry's head exploded in a loud puff of smoke. When the cloud dispersed, there was a jack-o-lantern where Harry's head used to be. The pumpkin looked down at the letter and continued reading.

_-your head will turn into a pumpkin. I'll leave you to guess who came up with that (Hint: she's my all but legal twin)._

_I miss you a lot, especially when I'm feeling in a pranking kind of mood. It's always good to have a good laugh at Ron freaking out at a spider._

_With all my love,_

_Ginny_

_P.S. My Mum said to say hi and your Mum wanted me to tell you to stay out of trouble. Like you'll listen, but I'm just the messenger._

Harry folded up the letter and looked at Ron. The Weasley boy, who had been stuffing his face, quickly glanced at Harry and let out a yip upon seeing Harry's head.

"Here, look at this..." Harry grumbled. He let Ron have the letter and tried to resume eating. Unfortunately, the increasing amount of laughter from his table, especially from Ron after he finished reading the letter, was making very difficult to concentrate. He also was having issues getting food in the cutout mouth that his sister so kindly left him with, so most of his breakfast was ending up on his clothes. 'This is turning out to be a great day...thanks, sis...' he thought grumpily.

As soon as Ron finished reading the letter, he handed it back at Harry, whose head had faded back to normal. He gave a valiant try at trying to stop laughing, but he couldn't do it and doubled over on the bench. Harry had had enough, so he grabbed some toast and stalked off to Charms, since breakfast was about to end in a few minutes anyways. He made a mental note to send his loving sister a letter once class was over with. He didn't see Hermione trying to grill Ron about what had just happened.

He got there just as Professor Flitwick and a few other Ravenclaw girls arrived, so he walked in with them and plopped down in the back row of the classroom. He pulled out his prank spell book and flipped through it, thankfully ignorant of the titters of the girls looking over at him and whispering about him. Ron tentatively came in a few minutes later and sat down a few rows in front of him, next to Hermione Granger, who looked nonplussed. Neville sat down by Harry due to the lack of seats elsewhere.

Once the bell rang, Flitwick got up and announced that they were going to start on Hover Charms. He demonstrated the incantation and the hand movement, a swish and flick of the wand, and set them onto the spell with some feathers to practice on.

Harry and Neville began working on their feathers. After a few minutes of failed attempts, Neville looked over at Harry, who had managed to get the feather a few centimeters off of his desk and meekly asked, "Um, Harry, d'ya mind helping me out." Harry lost his concentration and let the feather fall.

"Okay, Neville, go ahead and do it. I'll try to see what's wrong." Neville nodded and tried again, muttering the incantation and sloppily tossing his wand around. The feather twitched but didn't begin to levitate. Harry noted a few things and suggested, "Maybe you should say the incantation louder and swish and flick slower and more fluidly. That might work." Neville nodded and did it again, doing Harry's suggestions. The feather lifted off of the table about a centimeter before falling.

Neville smiled happily at him, "Thanks, Harry!" Harry grinned and went back to work on his own feather, getting the feather to lazily float around his desk.

Other than Seamus managing to somehow blow up his feather, there were no other disruptions except when Ron tried his hand at the feather. He stabbed his wand at the feather while blurting out, "_Wingardium Leviosa!_" Predictably, nothing happened.

Hermione had been watching him critically and finally said, "It's Win-_gar_-dium Levi -_o _-sa. Emphasize the middle syllable. And it's swish and flick, not poke!"

"Well, you try it then!" Ron retorted.

Hermione shrugged and said clearly and loudly, "_Wingardium Leviosa!_" Her feather lifted off of the table and rose into the air as the feather moved to match her wand movements. Ron looked at the feather and then back at Hermione with a look of loathing. He didn't say anything, but he continued jabbing at the feather, to no avail.

When the class dismissed, Ron immediately made a beeline for Harry and blurted out, "Merlin, Harry, Hermione is such a pain! She bloody wouldn't give me time to think! I'm trying to do that spell, and she's blabbering about pronunciation! I wish she'd just shut up and let me work!"

Harry grimaced and replied, "Don't you think you're being a bit hard on her?"

Ron scowled, "No, not at all. She's an insufferable pain in the arse!" Just then, someone with a lot of bushy brown hair roughly pushed by him and ran down the hallway. Ron watched her run with a neutral expression on his face, but Harry slapped his head and gave his best friend a disbelieving look.

"Good job, Ron, now look what you've done," he muttered sarcastically. The redhead shrugged like there was nothing wrong. Harry groaned and headed to History of Magic.

Later at the Halloween Feast, Harry was just beginning on his steak and kidney pie when he heard someone say, "...and she's been in the bathroom all day, crying. She hasn't come to class or anything." He looked down a few seats and saw Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown conversing quietly. He picked up his stuff and moved down a few spaces so he was next to Parvati.

"Hey, Parvati, you're talking about Hermione, aren't you?" he asked.

The dark skinned Indian girl turned away from Lavender and replied, "Yeah, she refused to leave because she was so upset..."

Harry noticed Ron was trying (and failing) to eavesdrop and said dangerously, "Ron..."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll go apologize after this," he said, not at all sounding like he meant it.

A few minutes later, the doors to the Great Hall flew open, and Professor Quirrel came stumbling in. He shouted frantically, "Troll! Troll in the dungeons!" before fainting and falling in a heap on the ground.

That sent everyone into a frenzy. Students immediately got up and started to run towards the exits, but Dumbledore quickly squelched the riot with a grand shout of "STOP!!!" All of the students stopped and turned to look at the Headmaster. He ordered the prefects to get the students back to the common rooms and the professors to follow him to the dungeons.

As they were following Percy, who was about as bad as a herding dog, Harry remembered something somewhat important, "Ron, Hermione doesn't know about the troll!"

Ron's step faltered, but he kept going and replied nervously, "She'll figure it out. She's the smart one here, remember?" Harry didn't even grace him with a response and ran away from the Gryffindor group and joined a herd of Ravenclaws heading for the first floor. Ron didn't want to be left behind, so he grudgingly followed. On the way, they saw Snape sneaking off towards the stairs, but they ignored him in favor of finding Hermione. They reached the hallway that led to the bathroom and were just about to go around the corner when a monstrous stank reached them.

"Uh...urgh, what the bloody hell is that smell?" Ron spluttered. Harry chanced a look around the corner and saw a huge club held by a massive, dumb-looking troll.

He came back around and grimaced, "I'll give you a hint: it's supposed to be in the dungeons..." Harry's stab at humor was not successful, as Ron looked at him like he was nuts.

"So...n-now we have to get by the tr-troll to get to the bathroom?" he stammered.

"Well, I think we might need to find a teacher for this one...I definitely don't want to have to fight a troll, and I think my mum would skin me alive if I tried..." Harry whispered back. His friend nodded back frantically. His opinion quickly changed when he heard a girl's shriek. Ron and Harry looked at each other and shouted, "Hermione!" before running to the bathroom.

The troll was standing above the row of sinks, some of which were shattered from an apparent club strike. Hermione was cowering underneath one of the intact ones.

"Hermione, get out of here!" Harry shouted. Predictably, she was too terrified to respond, so he tried another idea, "Ron, get that thing's attention!"

Ron looked at him like he was mad, "How the bloody hell am I supposed to do that?!" Harry shrugged and started to look for a way around the troll. His redheaded friend looked down and saw some debris from the broken sinks, so he began chucking it at the troll, shouting, "Oi, pea brain!" The tossed debris didn't seem to do much good, but the troll did hear the insult and turned around to face the two boys. Harry darted around the troll and ran to Hermione.

"Hermione, c'mon, we have to get out of here!" he said insistently. She whimpered a little bit but didn't move. Harry tried to get her to move a few more times, but she was scared stiff.

"Oi, Harry, I could use some help here!" Ron shouted. Harry looked over at his friend and saw him cornered. The troll was almost giggling in some brutish way as it raised its club.

"You just stay here, okay?" Harry told Hermione, who nodded frantically. He ran at the troll and did the first thing he thought of: he jumped and latched onto the troll's back, managing to accidentally stick his wand up the beast's nose. The troll let out a yelp of pain and started stomping around the bathroom, narrowly missing Ron and Hermione a few times.

"Okay, now help me!" Harry shouted, eventually jumping off the beast only to dodge a swing of the large club.

Ron ducked around the flailing beast and wracked his brain for a spell to use. He finally swung his wand and said the first thing that came to mind, "_Wingardium Leviosa!_" The troll's club stuck in place in the air, while the hand that was holding it swung at thin air. Not knowing what else to do, Ron dropped the spell, allowing the club to fall and hit the troll on the head, knocking it out.

Harry walked over and kicked the troll's head, making sure it was fully knocked out before pulling his wand out of the troll's nose. "Ugh...troll bogies..." he groaned. While he was trying to get rid of the bogeys on his wand, Ron tentatively walked over to Hermione.

"Do you need a hand?" he asked quietly. Hermione silently took the offered hand and got up, brushing the debris out of her hair and clothes.

"Well? Don't you have something to say, Ronald?" she snapped stiffly after standing there awkwardly in silence for a few moments.

Ron had his smarts around him enough to look at his feet. "Um...well, I'm really sorry for saying those things about you...I shouldn't have said them...the only reason I did was out of spite, I guess...and I'm glad you're okay and all..."

Hermione eyed him for a few moments, making him think that she wasn't going to forgive him, until she said, "Apology accepted, Ronald...and thanks a bunch for doing what you did..."

Ron couldn't decipher the blush on her face, but he got a macho look on his face and said confidently, "Yeah, it was nothing!" Hermione let out a little giggle in spite of herself.

"Potter, why is there a troll lying here and what in Merlin's name is that on your wand?" Ron and Hermione flinched and turned around.

Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrel were standing in the entrance to the bathroom, inspecting the scene before them. Harry was saying, "It's troll bogies, Professor!" When she continued to glare at him, he cried, "I'm serious!" Quirrel looked like he was about to faint again every time he glanced at the troll, and Snape looked maliciously gleeful, though he flinched every time he put some weight on his leg.

McGonagall finally let up her assault on Harry and turned to Ron. "Weasley, care to add on?" she shot at him.

Ron flinched and looked like he was trying to think of something to say when Hermione piped up and said, "They were looking for me, Professor."

"Miss Granger!"

Hermione didn't at all look like she wanted to be there. "I thought I could handle the troll. I've read about them, you see, and I thought it would be pretty easy to defeat it. Harry and Ron were trying to stop me." McGonagall didn't appear to believe her, especially when she noticed the tear trails on Hermione's cheeks. "Harry was telling the truth. He stuck his wand up the troll's nose, that's where that stuff came from," Harry sheepishly held up his wand, "and Ron knocked it out with its own club with a Hover Charm."

"Well...that was very foolish, Miss Granger. Five points from Gryffindor. Now head up to your dormitory." Hermione nodded and ran out of the room.

McGonagall turned on the two boys and said sternly, "Not many first years I've known could have taken on a full grown mountain troll and lived to tell. Five points each to Gryffindor. Get out of here while we take care of this thing." Ron and Harry nodded and ran out, past Snape, who now looked murderous.

They met Hermione outside the portrait hole. No one said anything, but they all knew what the other was thinking, and left it at that. From there on, they were as close as friends could get.

...xXx...A Month Later...xXx...

"Okay, team, get out there and play like you mean it. This is the best team Gryffindor has had in years, probably since Charlie Weasley was here," Wood barked, pacing back and forth in front of his team, finally stopping in front of a queasy Harry, "Potter, no pressure, but you can do this. You've got your father's skill, so get out there and win!" Harry gulped and nodded shakily.

"No pressure..." Fred said, clapping his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"We're not gonna blame you..." George added, putting his hand on Harry's other shoulder.

"If you screw up..."

"In front of your family and our sister and everyone else who wants you to win!" Considering he didn't know that bit of information, it really didn't help the nerves, so Harry shoved the two off of his shoulder and went to the entrance to stand by the three female chasers.

Harry finally mounted his broom and flew out of the corridor when he heard his name shouted by the commentator. He came to a hover above all the other players, facing the Slytherin Seeker. He heard Madam Hooch talking about fair behavior, especially at the sixth year Slytherin captain Marcus Flint, but he was more concentrated on the match. He vaguely heard a whistle and took off, taking a quick lap around the pitch. He saw a patch of red high in the stands and saw Ron, Hermione, and some other kids from his year sitting in front of his parents, Crissy, and Ginny. James gave him a quick thumbs up, Lily smiled and waved, Crissy playfully stuck her tongue out him, Ginny (from what he could see) blushed and gave him a tiny wave, and Ron and Hermione waved some banners Dean Thomas had made. Harry waved before he heard Wood shout, "POTTER! LOOK FOR THE SNITCH!" He vaguely saw a flash from his family's direction before going off to find the small golden ball.

30 minutes later, he still hadn't seen the Snitch, but luckily, neither had Slytherin's Seeker, Terrence Higgs. From Lee Jordan's humorous commentary, he managed to gleam that the score was still in Gryffindor's favor at 130-110 even after a Slytherin upsurge gained the team in silver and green fifty points. Fortunately, luck was on Harry's side, and he spotted the small ball near Wood and the goalposts, fluttering in the air behind him. He sped after it, and Higgs was hot on his trail.

As he was crossing midfield, his broom suddenly screeched to a halt, sending Harry off the side with only one hand on the broom. He managed to kick away the Quaffle and dodge a Bludger that came flying at him right when he got bounced off. The crowd gasped collectively as the broom started bucking around, trying to dislodge its rider.

...xXx...

Scared stiff, Lily was staring up at Harry while clinging to her husband's arm. Catherine was watching with an expression of weird interest before quickly snapping a shot of the scene. Ginny was watching Harry the whole time, her hands clasped together tightly.

However, Hermione had no thought of staying put and doing nothing. She looked around the pitch and homed in on the staff box. She could just make out Snape muttering something amongst the other teachers.

"Ron...Ron...RON!" Hermione muttered, finally elbowing in the ribs when he didn't initially answer.

"OW! What was that for, huh?" he exclaimed, rubbing his side.

"Snape's cursing Harry's broom. Look!" she pointed across the field. Ron looked, and his eyes widened when he saw Snape's lips moving. "Make sure no one notices where I've gone." Ron couldn't question her, as she ran back up the stands and down the stairs in the back.

10 minutes later, Hermione reached the underside of the staff seats and found where Snape was standing. She pulled out her wand and uttered, "_Incendio Cerule!_" The edge of Snape's robes erupted in blue flame, and the bushy-haired girl crept off to avoid getting caught in the commotion. When Snape realized what had happened, he began tramping around like an elephant, managing to knock over Quirrel, McGonagall, and Flitwick.

Luckily, it also got the curse off of Harry's broom, and he managed to swing his legs back onto the Nimbus. His eyes soon started darting around, looking for the Snitch. Higgs had lost it as soon as Harry's broom had started darting around, so he was looking as well.

The score had gotten to 170-160, Gryffindor's favor, by the time Harry found the golden ball again. This time it was about a foot off the ground, and Harry dove after it. Higgs followed as well, but when he saw where the Snitch was, he chickened out, probably praying that Harry would crash.

In fact, Higgs was close. Harry had flattened out and was chasing the golden ball parallel to the ground. Reaching out for it, he overstretched and fell off of the broom, rolling along the ground. He sat up and choked for a few moments before coughing out the Snitch.

"He's done it! Potter's coughed up the Snitch for a 320-160 Gryffindor win!" Lee's amplified voice boomed throughout the pitch, sending the Gryffindors into rounds of raucous cheering.

Harry was still trying to clear his throat when he was attacked by his team. Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet each kissed him on a cheek, and Katie Bell gave him a quick hug. Wood clapped him on the back before running off to who knows where, and the twins dragged him into some odd victory dance, shouting "Potter is our hero!"

Finally, the visitors in the crowd managed to reach him a few minutes later. "Nice catch, son, we might need to name that," James quipped, spreading his arms out in an invisible headline, "'The Potter Choking Snitch Catch' will be known worldwide! Seriously, though, very graceful. Sirius will get a kick out of that one," The older man laughed as he ducked when Harry finally swung his broom at him.

"Harry, stop attacking your father!" Lily said reproachfully. Harry flinched, but it was short lived when his mother's face broke out into a grin. "Great job, Harry. Just don't get a big head like your father..." James stood behind her, making mock crazy expressions with his face and hands.

"Hey, bro, nice broom control up there," Harry turned around to face his sister, who was grinning like a fool and carrying her camera, as usual.

"Hey, that wasn't my fault, someone else did that," he countered.

"Yeah, it was Snape, but I got him to stop," a familiar female voice spoke from behind them. Hermione and Ron had come up behind him.

Harry looked at Hermione strangely, "Wait, Snape caused that?" he asked.

"Well, your broom stopped acting strangely when I lit his robes on fire..." she started to explain.

"You lit Snape's robes on fire?" Harry and Ron exclaimed at the same time, "Bloody brilliant!" Hermione rolled her eyes and muttered something that sounded like, "Boys..."

A cough to his side reminded Harry of his sister's presence. "Oh, yeah, Crissy, this is Hermione Granger. She's a Muggle-born, and she's probably smarter than Mum, but don't tell her I said that," Harry whispered.

Hermione shook Catherine's hand and blushed when Harry's sister asked innocently (at least to Hermione), "Are you my brother's girlfriend?"

"No way, Crissy! That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!" Ron spluttered. That wasn't the smartest thing to do, however, because Catherine was now watching Ron and Hermione with an evil glint in her eye, and Hermione was now looking at the youngest Weasley boy angrily.

"Um...good job today, Harry...you're really good, you know..." The Seeker turned around and saw Ginny standing behind him, looking nervous.

"Thanks, Ginny! It was great that you could come with us," he said happily. Ginny nodded shakily and then scurried back to Harry's parents and sister.

...xXx...

The next day, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went down to Hagrid's hut for some lunch, intending to tell the kindly half-giant about their theories. They stopped at the Owlery on the way so Harry could send a letter to the Blacks. Ron tried to get Harry to tell him what the letter was about, but Harry wasn't telling anyone. When they arrived at Hagrid's, Ron knocked loudly on his door until the three heard Fang begin to bark and Hagrid yell, "Back, Fang, git back from the door!" A few seconds later, the door opened, and Hagrid looked surprised to see them as he said, "Well, this is a pleasant surprise. C'mon in, yeh three! I was jus' abou' ter eat lunch!" The three students thanked Hagrid and walked in.

Hagrid grabbed some rock cakes off of his stove and handed one on a plate to each of the three first years. "'ere you go. Fresh off the oven!" he chuckled.

"Thanks, Hagrid!" Ron said enthusiastically, expecting a great meal. Harry would have warned him about his misconception, but he couldn't do that in front of his large friend. Instead, he nudged Hermione's leg with his own. When she looked questioningly at him, he nodded at the rock cakes and slightly shook his head. Hermione seemed to get the message, and she didn't take a bite out of Hagrid's homemade food. Ron, unfortunately, did take a large bite out of the rock cake. His face contorted funnily, and he didn't take another bite as he tried to digest what he had already eaten.

Harry decided to start asking Hagrid about the theories they had while Ron was trying to not choke. "Hagrid, can we tell you a few things that we've noticed about Professor Snape?"

"I guess. Has he been mistreatin' yeh all in class?" he asked, looking slightly worried.

"No, no. We just noticed some odd things that occurred when he was around," Hermione corrected him.

"At Halloween, after Professor McGonagall had found us with the troll, Snape was there, too. His leg looked like it had been mauled, and I saw him running towards the third floor when Professor Quirrel first told Professor Dumbledore about the troll," Harry explained.

"Then he cursed Harry's broom at the Quidditch match," Hermione added.

Hagrid looked shocked, "What? Are yeh sure about tha'?"

"I've read about the different types of curses, and with the one Snape was using, you have to keep eye contact the whole time, and Snape wasn't blinking!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Then why did Harry's broom stop movin'?" Hagrid asked.

Hermione blushed and didn't immediately respond, so Ron piped up and said, "She went and lit Snape's robes on fire. It was bloody brilliant the way he was dancing around in the staff stands, trying to put out the fire!"

Hagrid looked at them and replied, "Tha's hogwash. Snape's a teacher, and Dumbledore trusts him with his life."

"I wish I had as much faith as he did," Ron muttered quietly.

Harry added, "Hagrid, Snape's already tried to get by that three-headed dog once! Could you please tell us what's down there?"

"First of all, I'm not telling yeh, and second, how the heck do yeh three know abou' Fluffy?" Hagrid asked haughtily. The three kids looked nonplussed.

"That thing has a name?" Hermione said in disgust.

"Well, yeah. Everything needs a name," Hagrid replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Besides, there isn't anything down there that yeh three need to worry abou'. That's between Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel." As soon as he said that, the kids thanked him for the visit and ran out. It took Hagrid a minute to realize what he had said, and when he did, he banged his head against the wall in frustration.

...xXx...

AN: Keep up the reviews please!


	6. Book 1: We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Disclaimer: I do not own _Harry Potter_ or anything related to J.K. Rowling's works except for my own original characters and storylines.

...xXx...Chapter 6 – We Wish You a Merry Christmas......xXx...

After they 'escaped' from Hagrid's, Hermione immediately ran to the library, saying that she would look for library books about Nicolas Flamel, so Harry and Ron left her to do what she did best and instead went back up to the Gryffindor common room.

"So, while Hermione's stuck in her second home, you want to play some chess?" Ron asked deviously, looking back and forth between the board and his best friend.

"No way. Get Neville or Seamus or someone else to play with you," Harry fired back, shaking his hands in front of him.

"I'll play against you, Ron," a female voice spoke up. Harry and Ron looked over in surprise and saw Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil sitting on the couch doing homework. Lavender had put her stuff down on the table in front of them and had stood up, shaking her writing hand out.

"Really?" Ron asked dumbly. The pretty blond girl shrugged.

"Why not? I'm tired of doing Snape's boring essay. Earthworm blood can only get so interesting," she responded, rolling her eyes, "I haven't played in a long time, so go easy on me." Ron nodded and ran off to get his chessmen from the dorm room, missing the smirk Lavender sent at Parvati.

"Is there something I'm missing?" Harry asked suspiciously, having seen the smirk.

"Well...nothing much, except that Lavender won a regional chess championship when she was seven. She's just as good as or better than Ron," Parvati explained.

"That was a long time ago, Parvati. I doubt I'm much good anymore, and I was playing against kids my age," Lavender replied, looking a little self conscious for a moment before grinning, "Though I think I can give Ron a run for his galleons."

"Okay, Lavender, I'm ready!" Ron shouted from across the room; he had already returned and had set up the board. Lavender shrugged and walked across the room.

Harry turned to Parvati, who was looking disgusted at the parchment she was writing on, "Want to watch? I'm curious now," he asked his Indian friend.

"Sure. I'm tired of Snape's dumb essay, too," Parvati replied. Harry went over and pulled two chairs from a nearby table over to the chessboard and sat down in one, Parvati taking the other one.

"Ladies first," Ron said confidently, thinking he had the match in the bag.

"You're so sweet," Lavender replied, her attitude shifting into a more competitive mode. Ron had thankfully not noticed.

Forty minutes later, Lavender placed her knight onto the board, looking speculatively at the board. "Well...looks like a stalemate, Ron," she sighed, shrugging.

Ron was gaping at the chessboard in shock, his mouth opening and closing every now and again in a perfect imitation of a fish. Lavender got up and went back to work, not missing a beat. Parvati and Harry turned around so Ron wouldn't seem them trying to stifle their laughter.

The portrait hole opened up, and Hermione climbed through, her arms laden with library books. She noticed Harry and Parvati about to double over, and she walked over to them, setting the books down on a nearby table with a loud 'BAM.' "Did I miss something?" she asked curiously, looking at Ron doing his impression of a fish. She sat down and began to peruse the books.

"Oh, hey, Hermione," Harry said in between chuckles, noticing his friend's arrival, "Yeah, Ron's winning streak in chess just got broken by Lavender." Parvati walked back over to her friend, who waved at Hermione before engrossing herself back into the Potions essay.

Hermione was only half paying attention to Harry, distractedly saying, "Oh, really?" Unfortunately, Ron snapped out of his trance right about the same time his bushy haired friend said that, and he marched over to the table she was sitting at and slammed his hands on the table angrily. Hermione, startled, looked up and snapped, "What is your problem, Ronald?"

"My problem? You're the insensitive one here, not caring about chess!" he shot back.

"Well, excuse me for having a life that doesn't revolve around chess!" she snapped. Harry, seeing the telltale signs of a row, quietly walked away and sat down with Lavender and Parvati.

"Well, you did it now, Lavender. Those two will be after each other until dinner," he grinned. The two girls shared a laugh with him before getting back to work. Hermione and Ron bickered for the next ten minutes until they stopped speaking and stormed off in different directions, Hermione back out the portrait hole to the library and Ron up to their dormitory.

The next morning, Harry went down to breakfast alone, noticing that Ron and the other boys had already left. When he got to the Great Hall, he saw Ron, Neville, Seamus, Dean, Lavender, and Parvati sitting together and chatting at one end of the table and Hermione sitting near Percy at the other end. The black haired boy walked over and sat next to Ron, saying hi to everyone there. He attempted to tell Ron to apologize to Hermione, but he was interrupted.

"I'm not going to apologize, and that's that. She started it," Ron muttered, his ears turning red.

"Ron, do you even remember what the argument was about?" Harry asked exasperatedly as he speared some bacon and a few slices of toast. Ron looked like he was going to quickly respond, but his face soon gained a confused expression as he tried to remember. His best friend rolled his eyes and said, "I knew it..."

As soon as the group was done with breakfast, they left and headed off to class. Hermione refused to work with Ron in Herbology or sit next to him in Astronomy, working instead with Harry while Ron was with Neville. Harry noticed a very un-Hermione thing occur during Astronomy – she was studying the books she had gotten from the library the whole time and ignored Professor Meadows the entire time. Luckily, she and Harry had sat in the back of the room, so Professor Meadows hadn't noticed a thing. However, after lunch, when the Gryffindors had Potions, Hermione went to work with Neville, and Ron and Harry were left to be together.

As the two boys worked on the Hair Dying Potion Snape had assigned for the period, Ron kept shooting glances at his former female friend, and he finally whispered, "I don't get her problem. She starts arguing with me, and then she gets all put out and won't talk to me any more. How stupid can a person be?"

"Maybe if you just apologized," Harry whispered back, cutting up some platypus pancreas for the potion, "she'd talk to us again. You've got her ignoring me now, too. Now be quiet. Something bad's going to happen if we keep on talking."

"I'm not apologizing for something she started," Ron hissed, ignoring his friend's warning and taking a cutting board from in front of Harry. He made to drop its contents into the cauldron, but a long fingered hand grabbed his wrist and stopped him.

"Weasley, I'd suggest not putting the fern fronds in the potion unless you want tree branches instead of hair," Snape said silkily from behind them. Neither boy had noticed that he had come up behind them, and Ron finally noticed that he had picked up the wrong ingredient, "If you spent less time socializing and more time paying attention to your school work, maybe you'd do better in this class. Twenty points from Gryffindor." He walked away, snapping at Neville for catching the sleeve of his on fire.

Hermione did the same thing she had done in Astronomy when the first year Gryffindors went to History of Magic, though Harry was more okay with it because he and Ron had been telling her to ignore Binns since they had become friends with her.

At dinner, she pointedly avoided the two boys, and she immediately went up to her dorm room when the Gryffindors got back from dinner. When Harry noticed this, he told Ron sarcastically, "Thanks a lot...now I have to do my homework by myself." Ron looked at him like nothing was wrong, but Harry noticed that his friend would get irritated when he struggled with his work and would constantly look at the stairs leading to the girls' dorms.

On Tuesday morning, Harry and the rest of the Gryffindor first years ate separately from Hermione again, and she was gone from the table before the rest were done, glaring at Ron as she stomped by on the way to the exit.

Ron and Harry headed to Transfiguration a few minutes before the bell rang and saw Hermione sitting in her usual seat in front of McGonagall's desk. Most of the class was already there, and the only two open seats were the one by Hermione and another one next to Neville.

"I'm sitting with Neville," Harry stated simply, "You figure out what to do to get Hermione talking to us again." He walked over and threw his bag down next to Neville and greeted him, leaving Ron to slowly trudge over and sit down next to Hermione. She didn't make any indication that she noticed him, either because she was too absorbed in _Awesome Alchemists and Wacky Witch Doctors_ to notice or because she was still ignoring him.

Professor McGonagall came in as the bell rang carrying a box of Muggle pens. "Today, we'll continue on simple transfigurations. These," she held up the box, "are Muggle ballpoint pens, which are refillable writing utensils. They are one of the more intricate Muggle writing instruments, which is the point of today's lesson. Your assignment for class is to attempt to turn the pen into a quill, which is simple compared to the pen. Homework is to read Chapter Four in _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_ and a roll of parchment summarizing the transfiguration from a living being to an inanimate object. That will be due a week from Thursday. Come up and get a pen and begin work."

Ron went up and got two pens, one of which he tossed onto Hermione's side of the desk. She didn't make a move to try to work, continuing her reading, so Ron began his attempts to transfigure the pen into a quill, using one of his own as a guide.

Twenty minutes later, Ron had made little progress. His pen had a few feathers on the end, but nothing had changed. Hermione was still engrossed in her book, so she did not notice when Professor McGonagall came up to their desk.

"Miss Granger, why are you reading a book instead of transfiguring a pen like the rest of the class is?" she asked testily. Hermione looked up, startled, and her eyes darted around the room at the other children, who had stopped to watch the confrontation.

Ron, naturally, had noticed as well, and he temporarily forgot that he was not talking to Hermione and said, "She was looking up something for me, Professor."

"Couldn't she do that at a different time, Mr. Weasley?" she shot back, turning her gaze on him.

"Well, it was important, and I asked her to look it up for me, since she is the smartest person I know, and I know she'd be able to help me out. She didn't want to do it during class, but I sort of forced her to. I'm sorry, Professor," he lied, looking down at his feet as his ears burned red. Harry watched the scene, partially impressed and partially shocked.

McGonagall peered at Ron for a few more moments, trying to read his expression, and she finally said, "That was very immature of you, Mr. Weasley. Twenty points from Gryffindor. Don't let it happen again." She swept away and went to her desk to grade some papers.

Hermione was still looking at Ron in amazement, but he pointedly did not look at her and continued his attempts to turn the pen into a quill. His bushy haired companions smiled and began work on her own pen.

...xXx...

Ron and Hermione were fine after that Transfiguration class, neither choosing to bring up the incident, and since then, the month had turned to December, and the three had been busy either poring through every library book they could find to figure out who Nicolas Flamel was (a fact that Ron was disgusted about) or assisting Hagrid in decorating the Great Hall. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, they had found nothing, and they eventually decided to take a break for the holidays, since Harry and Ron were both going home to spend time with their families, as was Hermione.

The two boys were currently in their dorms, packing up their things, while Hermione sat on Ron's bed, reading another book in search of any mention of Flamel.

"So, Hermione, what are you going to do with your free time?" Harry asked as he tossed a bunch of socks into his trunk.

"Keep looking for Nicolas Flamel and study for final exams, of course!" she replied like it was the most obvious answer ever.

Ron fished around underneath his bed, grabbed some clothes, and chucked them into his own trunk, "Hermione, I thought we had resolved **not** to look for or even think about school during Christmas. Besides, finals aren't until June. Why aren't you going to relax like we will?" Hermione looked down at him, huffed, and continued reading _Great Wizards of the Current Millenia_. He noticed what she was, or rather, wasn't doing and said, "Aren't you going to pack? The train leaves in two hours."

"For your information, Ronald, I packed last night so I wouldn't have to do what you two are doing now, thank you! And it's never too early to start studying. You two should learn that, and maybe you'd do better!" she snapped. Ron recoiled a little but continued tossing random things into his trunk.

Harry finished with his things, which ended up as a jumbled lump of books, robes, and assorted paraphernalia. He pulled out his wand, which he almost threw into the trunk multiple times on accident, and muttered, "_Pack!_" The things in his trunk flew out, swirled around, and resettled in the trunk in a loosely organized manner.

Ron gaped at Harry, and Hermione did the same before beaming at her friend, "Harry, that's an OWL level spell. How'd you learn it?" To Harry, it sounded like she knew the spell already but was just curious how he learned it.

"Mum taught me before I came here, since she knew how messy I was," Harry explained. He glanced at his trunk to make sure everything was in order and dragged it out of the room and down the stairs.

Ron and Hermione watched him leave, and Ron began looking back and forth between his trunk and Hermione every few seconds. It didn't take her long to catch on, and she sighed, pulled out her own wand, and muttered, "_Pack!_" All of Ron's things rearranged themselves into perfect arrangements. Ron grinned and dragged his trunk out of the dorm with a quick thank you. Hermione rolled her eyes, muttered, "Boys..." and followed him out.

...xXx...2 Hours Later...xXx...

"Ah, finally, no more school for two weeks!" Ron said happily, throwing himself down on the bench in the train compartment.

"Yeah, and we get our mums' good cooking. Can't beat that," Harry added, plopping down on the other bench. Hermione looked between the two and finally sent a Tickling Charm at Ron, sending him into peals of laughter and causing him to roll off the bench. She sat down where he had been and opened up the book she was carrying around. Ron finally stopped laughing and dragged himself back up onto the bench next to Hermione.

A few minutes later, Neville walked in, holding a squirming Trevor. "Hey, guys, mind if I sit with you all?" The three quickly exchanged knowing glances before waving him in, and Harry sat up to give Neville some room.

"Harry, wanna play some chess? I promise I'll take it easy on you!" Ron grinned as he pulled out his chessboard and men. Harry sighed and pulled out his own men in what would probably be a thorough beating.

Five games (all of which Ron won) later, Harry said, "Okay, that's enough punishment for one day. Any of you guys want some snacks?" Hermione shook her head, but Ron and Neville nodded enthusiastically. "Okay, then, I'll go get some stuff. What do you all want?"

"Get me some Fizzing Whizbees and some Every Flavor Beans," Ron replied.

"I'll have some Drooble's and Blood Pops," Neville added. Harry nodded and walked out into the hallway. He found the snack cart and the kindly old witch a few cars down, and he loaded his arms with his friend's requests and some Chocolate Frogs for himself after paying.

He was a car away from his compartment when he bumped into two people standing outside a compartment. "Oh, sorry about that, couldn't see where I was going," he chuckled nervously as he shuffled the stuff around in his arms to see better. When he did, he saw the two Slytherins that had been at the broomstick training class that had been able to get their broom into their hands on their first try. The dark skinned boy smiled slightly, and the girl blushed.

"Oh, it's okay. We were just leaving anyways," the boy replied, "I don't think we've met. The name's Blaise Zabini, nice to meet you...um..."

"Harry Potter, and it's nice to meet you too. I'd shake your hand, but I've got my hands full," Harry said sheepishly.

Blaise smiled, "Yeah, I can see that. We, that is, me and Daphne here were just on our way to find a compartment. Most of the other Slytherins in our year...well, ejected us because we didn't like how they were thinking." He pointed at the door to the nearest compartment, where Harry could see a flash of pale blond hair.

"Oh, Malfoy again, that explains a lot. Well, I'd invite you to come in our compartment, but it's kind of full as it is. I hope you can find one with people that aren't total idiots," Harry said sympathetically.

Blaise nodded, "I think Theo Nott's around here somewhere. We can sit with him. Nice talking with you, Potter," he said before walking off. The girl looked at him and at Harry and finally squeaked, "I-I'm Daphne Greengrass. Nice to m-meet you!" before running off after her friend. Harry stared after them before shaking his head and walking back to his compartment.

"What took you so long, mate? We're starving here!" Ron shouted when Harry reentered the compartment. He handed Ron and Neville their sweets and sat back down to enjoy his.

"Sorry, I was talking with some Slytherins. They actually don't seem to like Malfoy. Interesting, huh?" Harry replied. Ron dropped what he was eating and gaped at Harry, dumbstruck.

"Are you serious? Traitor!" Ron exclaimed, pointing at his best friend in horror. Hermione sighed, and Neville just looked confused as he sucked on his Blood Pop.

"Seriously, Ronald, it's okay to have friends in Slytherin. It's just Malfoy's crowd that is evil. I'm proud of you, Harry," Hermione stated before going back to her book.

Ron kept sending furtive glances at Harry for a few minutes before starting up a game of Exploding Snap with Neville, who looked glad to not have to figure out his friends' weird behavior.

A few hours and more than a few singed eyebrows later, the Hogwarts Express pulled into King's Cross. Ron quickly gathered his stuff and left the compartment, obviously still mad about Harry 'fraternizing with the enemy,' as he so delicately put it. Hermione rolled his eyes at his back as he left and retrieved her stuff from the rack above. Harry helped Neville with his things (since Trevor was still protesting his confinement) before getting his own goods.

Harry followed Hermione off the train, only to be ambushed by hoards of reporters, asking more questions than he could sort through. Harry, due to similar treatment over the years, had grown to have a real hate for crowds. Luckily, he also had good people on his side.

James' magically amplified voice rang out, "Okay, if you all ever want to step foot here again, you'll get out before the Head of the Auror Department asks the Minister for a law forbidding reporter harassment!" The reporters heard that and immediately either Disapparated or ran through the barrier. The one remaining one, Rita Skeeter, kept saying her name and trying to stick a bright green quill in Harry's face so she could get an interview, but Lily and Molly immediately put a stop to that as they sent a few choice and discreet hexes in her direction. The persistent reporter eventually hobbled away with boils, slimy feet, and large, mucus colored bats beating at her face.

Harry let out a sigh of relief and headed towards his family when he was intercepted by two flaming red bodies.

"Hi, bro! Ready to have to deal with me for a few weeks?" Catherine asked excitedly. Harry noticed her look and just smiled back at her, anticipating the trouble he knew she could cause him.

"Um...it's good to see you again, Harry..." The Potter boy looked to his other side and saw the youngest Weasley girl standing next to him, looking somewhere over his shoulder.

"Same here, Gin. Hope you can live with me and Ron being home for a few weeks." Ginny smiled, and she and Catherine led him over to their parents. Ron followed behind, muttering something about wanting an escort. Hermione shook her head and said goodbye to Neville, who was walking over to meet his grandmother. She came up behind Ron and gave him a shove to get him moving, which made him protest rather loudly.

"Well, well, Fred, what do we have here?" George asked, he and Fred having come up behind the two.

"Hmmm, well, George, it looks like Ron's whipped," Fred replied.

"I do believe you are right, my observant twin!" George said happily.

"Why thank you, my gracious twin!"

"Isn't it sweet?"

"Oh, yes, sickeningly so."

"I agree completely."

"Ickle Ronniekins has become a man!" The two stopped talking and fell onto each other, pretending to cry. Ron's ears turned red, but Hermione just glared at them.

"Come on, Ronald, I'll introduce you to my parents," the smart girl said sternly before dragging the protesting, youngest Weasley boy off.

"Well, son, looks like you're the hottest thing these days," James said jokingly. Harry scowled, and Lily slapped her husband on the shoulder.

"James, you know Harry hates the attention. I really think you should talk with the Minister about the reporters," Lily snapped.

James shrugged helplessly, "I can't do much about them. Unless they write untrue things, they can do about anything they want." His wife didn't look too pleased about that answer, but she dropped the subject.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Weasley was dragging Fred and George by their ears with a spell and shouting at them about bringing too much attention to them after they had accidentally set off some fireworks in George's trunk when his grip failed and the trunk fell onto the ground. They replied that it was their job to do that. That didn't endear them to Mrs. Weasley, and she put Percy in charge of watching them.

After Hermione had said goodbye and left with her parents, James said, "Well, I guess we can head home. Lily finally let me get one of those Muggle drivel licenses, so I'll drive us home, and the Weasleys can use our fireplace to get to the Burrow once we get there." Harry, Catherine, and Lily rolled their eyes.

"First of all, that's _driver's_ license, James, and second, I'm not sure the Weasleys would be comfortable with you driving," Lily stated. However, the look in Mr. Weasley's eyes pretty much sealed the fates of James' driving, and a few minutes later, James was driving the Potters' van home, with an Untraceable Extending Charm making the inside large enough for everyone to be comfortable. The interior had two front seats like a normal van, but the back had seats in a circle around a table and miniature refrigerator that Mr. Weasley was examining extensively, much to the ire of his wife, though she was looking a little interested as well. He and Mrs. Weasley were on one side of the van, and Fred and George were on the other side. Harry, Catherine, and Ginny were in the back, facing the same way as Harry's parents, while Ron was sitting with Percy, with their backs to James and Lily.

On the way home, Harry thought of a glaring inconsistency and asked, "How the heck did Dad manage to get a driver's license, Mum?"

Lily was about to answer, but Catherine piped up and said, "He Confunded the instructors! He told me when he got home!" Ron and the twins immediately broke out laughing, Ron saying in between chuckles about how that was such a good idea.

Lily tried to say something to the contrary, but she was interrupted by James this time, who said, "Well, of course I did! How else could I pass those dumb Muggle tests?" All of the kids, minus Percy and plus Mr. Weasley, broke out in laughter, while Mrs. Weasley and Lily frowned. Percy huffed imperiously.

"Hey, Crissy, why didn't you tell me Dad became the Head of the Auror Department?" Harry asked indignantly a few minutes later. Next to him, Catherine rolled her eyes.

"I shouldn't have had to, if you had even bothered to look in the _Prophet_," she replied. Harry glared at her and looked at his dad for assistance.

"I just got notified last night, so there was no reason to tell you in a letter since you were coming home today," James added. Harry casually bopped his sister on the head as revenge.

His father suddenly swerved the card to the side, sending everyone inside sliding to the right. Seatbelts were a good thing in that situation, because they prevented Catherine, Fred, George, and Percy from flying off of their seats. The twins began shouting and whooping for more, which was quickly stopped by their mother and by Lily screaming at James for swerving just for the thrill. Ginny, who had fallen into Harry's lap, quickly sat back up and became very interested in her nails.

A few minutes later, James finally pulled into the garage at the Potter Mansion. He quickly hightailed into the house, with an angry Lily not far behind. Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Catherine followed them, with Percy and the twins close behind. Mrs. Weasley went after them, and Mr. Weasley was left to marvel the garage door and the wireless opener on his own.

Lily and Mrs. Weasley quickly got to making up a delicious dinner, which all of the men quickly made waste to. After dinner was over, both families went outside to watch or play a revised game of Quidditch in the cold and flurries, in which a team of Harry, Ginny, George, and Mr. Weasley beat out the other team, which included James, Catherine, Fred, and Ron. After sitting down for a little bit and chatting and to warm up, the Weasleys went home via Floo.

...xXx...

Harry was awakened on Christmas Day by his sister shouting, "Hurry and get up so you can give me my presents!" He groggily threw a pillow in her general direction and slapped at his table with his hand to find his glasses. Nearby, he could hear Ginny yelling at Ron about the same thing. The two youngest Weasleys had stayed for Christmas Eve, and while Ron and Harry played games all night, Catherine and Ginny were holed up in Harry's sister's room, talking about who knows what.

Now, as the two boys followed their somewhat over excited siblings down the stairs, Harry had a nagging thought that he was one of the topics of discussion, though he also considered that it was a little self-centered and slightly paranoid of him to think that.

When they reached the kitchen, the smell of an amazing breakfast hit them full force. Once again, the two redheaded matriarchs outdid themselves. Fred, George, Percy, Mr. Weasley and even Bill and Charlie were already sitting at the table. Harry and Catherine happily said hello to the eldest Weasley children before sitting down near Ron and Ginny to dig into breakfast.

The blaze of the fire in the living room signaled the arrival of Sirius Black and his family, along with Remus Lupin.

"Hey, Padfoot, Moony, glad to have you two!" James exclaimed, "Get in here before Lily and Molly's good cooking's all gone!" Sirius grinned predatorily and plopped down next to James and waved his wand, bringing some of everything to his plate. Remus quietly sat down on James' other side and thanked him for the invite, to which James waved off and offered him a plate of food. Lizzie went into the kitchen for some "girl talk," and Romulus went and sat down next to Catherine.

"Hey," he said simply, scooping some eggs and bacon onto his plate with an amused look on his face. Catherine growled and got up and took her plate into the living room in a huff. Her brother raised an eyebrow and listened on the conversation.

"She's still mad at you, Romulus. All she wants is an apology," Ginny provided. Romulus shrugged and continued eating. Harry assumed a stupid look on his face to try to get more information. Ginny noticed, and she added, "Romulus decided it would be funny to pull a prank on Catherine two days before you came home, and she didn't take it too well."

"Oh, really?" Harry asked, trying to sound surprised, "What happened? She looked really angry."

Romulus scowled with annoyance, sending a quick look at Harry before explaining, "It wasn't that bad. All I did was get some people to send me a charm that would make her mirror show her with her hair chopped off, and then she freaked out and really did chop her hair off, so Mum had to use a Glamour Charm to regrow her hair. I thought it was funny, but now she's mad and won't talk to me."

"Bloody brilliant, if you ask me. That sounds just like Fred and George!" Ron exclaimed, spraying food from his open mouth on everyone nearby.

"Better watch out, Ronniekins..." Fred said ominously.

"We might prove you wrong!" George added. Ron didn't mention the incident any more and went back to stuffing his face.

When he was sure no one was listening, Harry leaned over to his sister's former friend and whispered, "I'll talk to her for you. She won't be angry at you for very long." Romulus nodded gratefully and went back to his meal.

Later, after everyone had sat down for awhile, Ron busted out the chessboard once again, and Harry submitted to his fate and played a few games in which he did a lot better than usual due to Ginny's guidance, much to Ron's ire. He still lost, which made Ron a little happier. For a change of pace, Harry got out some of his mother's old board games, like Monopoly and Clue. He was slightly better at those, but Ron still beat him, Ginny, and Catherine in a few rounds of each, much to his delight.

After a delicious lunch, everyone headed into the large entertainment room to watch a few movies. Mr. Weasley asked for a thorough tour after the movie was over, to which Lily sweatdropped and agreed. She popped the original Star Wars into the video player, with James saying loudly how innovative Muggles could get with movies. The Weasleys were very impressed with the movie, which was saying something coming from a pureblood Wizarding family watching a Muggle movie.

Dinner was served at five o'clock, complete with multiple turkeys, stuffing, cranberries, vegetables, and different types of bread. Everyone ate way too much due to the quality and quantity of the food.

Afterwards, the three families plus Remus gathered in the living room to open their Christmas presents. Harry and Catherine quickly ran up to their rooms to get their presents, while the parents brought their and the other kids' presents to the room with a few wand flicks. The youngest Potter immediately appointed herself, as she did every year, as the gift bearer. Before doing anything, she handed everyone a homemade sweater, courtesy of Mrs. Weasley. She quickly organized the other presents into piles and sat on the floor waiting for someone to pipe up.

"Okay, let me have mine first," Sirius said with a smile.

"Might as well give me mine, too," Lizzie added. Catherine grabbed two piles of presents and sent them in the Black parents' direction. Sirius got some Auror gear from the adults and some joke items and prank books and stories from the kids. Lizzie got some dresses and houseware.

"Ours next!" the twins chorused, grabbing a pile of brightly wrapped gifts before an annoyed Catherine could get to them. It was obvious what they would get, as they unwrapped multiple packages of joke items, along with some books describing new methods of creating magical items from the adults, especially the three Marauders present.

Catherine set aside her pile of presents for later and roughly tossed some boxes at Romulus, who scowled at her before opening them up. She handed Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's presents to them, gave her parents and Remus theirs, and quickly joined in the paper wrapping frenzy that was currently happening among the younger kids, asides from Percy, who was quietly opening his in the corner.

Ginny was the first through her presents. She received some clothes from the Potter and Black parents. Percy gave her a set of Self-Inking Quills, and Fred and George gave her what they claimed was the first in an unpublished line of books describing their success. Ron got her a photo of her beating him in chess (which was quite a feat), and Romulus' present was an assortment of sweets from Honeyduke's. Ginny glared at Harry when he didn't provide a present, but he shrugged and wouldn't say anything.

Ron was next. He got a portable chess board, a case for that and his grandfather's chess set from his parents that shrunk when everything was in it for easy transport, and a pack of Muggle playing cards and a book of various Muggle card games from the Black family. Hermione got Ron a set of chess strategy books, Ginny and Catherine got him a shirt that said "I Think I'm Cool Because I Can Beat Anyone at Chess," and Harry got him a book on Keeper techniques.

Catherine received a variety of new clothes, similar to Ginny's, from her parents, the Weasleys, and the Black parents. She opened Romulus's present, a picture of all five of them, with a scowl, and squealed at Ginny's homemade hat and gloves. Harry got her a new charm bracelet, and Ron got her some sweets. The twins gave her the same book they gave Ginny.

Harry got a large package of Chocolate Frogs from Hermione and some Seeker gloves from Ron. The Blacks got him a dragonhide jacket. His sister got him some sweets as well. He reached for Ginny's present, but she snatched it away and gave him a look that said he couldn't get it until she got hers.

After all the wrapping paper was Vanished, everyone started relaxing and chatting about various things. Harry ran upstairs to get Ginny's present and was on his way out the door when James blocked his way. "What's up, Dad?" Harry asked questioningly.

James grinned and pulled out a silvery cloak, which he gave to Harry, "I didn't want your mother to know I was giving you my Invisibility Cloak. A good parent would tell you to behave and not to abuse it, but I'm just going to tell you not to get caught with it on you by a teacher." Harry nodded happily and tossed it into his trunk before running out of the room with Ginny's gift. James watched him leave with a smirk and thought of the original Marauders.

Harry raced downstairs and found Ginny in the entertainment room, as he told her to do. "Okay, Potter, where's my present?" she snapped, half angry and half in jest.

"It's right here, don't have a fit! Can I have mine? I just needed to put some finishing touches on yours!" Harry explained. Ginny eyed him for a moment before snatching it away and tossing her gift at him. He rolled his eyes and unwrapped the soft gift, which was a homemade faded green scarf. "Wow, Ginny, did you make this? It's great!" he said in awe.

"Really? I'm not that good with knitting, actually, just enough from what Mum showed me how to do. I'm glad you like it," she replied with her ever present (or what Harry believed to be the case) blush on her face. She held up the photo album Harry made for her, "This is really great, Harry. Thanks for making it for me! Where'd you get all the pictures?"

"You know how Crissy is with her camera. I just nipped a few from her room when she wasn't looking," Harry replied. He sat down next to her and showed her the pictures until it was time for bed.

Harry and Ginny walked upstairs together, the two youngest Weasleys once again staying for the night. Before Ginny could escape to his sister's room, Harry asked, "Could you ask Crissy to come out here for a moment? I need to talk to her about something."

"Sure," she replied happily, skipping into the girls' room with her gift tightly clutched in her hands. A minute later, his sister emerged, shrugging on her robe.

"What's up?" she asked curiously, noticing his nervous posture.

"Well...you know that prank Romulus played on you?" he asked.

His sister immediately clutched at her hair and snapped, "Yes. He's such a prat!"

"Well..." Harry started, searching for the right words, "I might have told him to ask the twins for a quick and easy prank to get back at you for the pumpkin head you gave me at Halloween." He took a step back as his sister bristled for a moment but relaxed when she did as well.

"Okay, I guess I deserved that..." she muttered. Harry thought he was off the hook, but Crissy continued, "...but don't think I don't want revenge. You made me yell at my friend, and now he thinks I hate him. I'm going to enjoy getting back at you!" She grinned triumphantly and walked back into her room, slamming the door in her brother's face. Harry sighed and walked back to his room.

...xXx...

AN: Hope you enjoy and don't forget to review!


	7. Book 1: and a Harry New Year

Disclaimer: I do not own _Harry Potter_ or anything related to J.K. Rowling's works except for my own original characters and storylines.

AN: To JWOHPFan, I wholeheartedly agree with you. I had not noticed it, but it is true. I can come up with a good explanation, though (at least, I think it is). James, from what I can gleam from the books and with a little self-interpretation, was immature during his early years, with all the pranking and whatnot. Who's to say it could be passed down? Hope that helps! :)

...xXx...Chapter 8 – ...and a Harry New Year...xXx...

Harry, Ron, and Hermione climbed off of the Hogwarts Express on the evening of Sunday, January 5, each with varying moods. While Hermione was itching to get back to schoolwork and looking up information on Nicolas Flamel, her two guy friends were less than thrilled to be back at school. As the threesome walked to the horseless carriages, Hermione ran out in front of her friends.

"Come on, you two! Don't tell me you aren't excited to be back to work?!" Hermione said, looking like she honestly believed they wanted to be there.

"Okay, we won't tell you," Ron snapped back, walking by her. She stared at him as he climbed into an empty carriage, and then she turned her attention to her other friend, looking expectantly at him.

Harry shook his head and walked past as well, saying, "Sorry, Hermione, but I can't get into the mood." He got in the carriage across from Ron and beckoned to his female friend, who was gaping at the two of them, to join them. She huffed and marched up to and into the carriage, squeezing in next to Ron as the carriage began to move.

Once all of the students who had left for Christmas break had settled down in the Great Hall with the other students, Professor Dumbledore stood up and said, "Welcome back to everyone who went home for the holidays. I hope everyone got excellent Christmas presents. I myself was a little disappointed not to get any socks. For an old man like me, thick, wooly socks are the best present you can get." Professor McGonagall coughed slightly, and the elder Headmaster glanced for a moment at her before continuing, "Anyways, that's enough about my Christmas woes. Tuck in!" The students chuckled and began to get their dinner items as the food appeared on the golden plates.

After dinner, the students wandered up to their respective common rooms. Since there wasn't any homework to attend to, Hermione immediately went to the library to search for Flamel. Harry and Ron decided to go to the common room and relax, grabbing their favorite armchairs in front of the fire.

As curfew drew closer, Harry remembered one of his Christmas presents and leaned over to Ron and asked, "Hey, do you want to take my dad's Christmas present for a spin?"

"What present?" his redheaded friend asked curiously.

"He gave me his Invisibility Cloak when I went upstairs to get Ginny's present," Harry replied, "Do you want to go test it out tonight?"

"Do I? Let's go as soon as we know Hermione won't bother us," Ron said excitedly, "Fred and George are always talking about the secret things in the castle, and I want to find out about them, too."

"Let's go to the dorm and wait so Hermione won't get after us about Flamel when she gets back," Harry suggested.

Ron nodded, "Good idea, mate. It's way too early to be thinking about school." The two picked up what little they had scattered around them and wandered up to the dorms, where they chatted with Neville, Seamus, and Dean for awhile until they had gone to bed a few minutes after the curfew chime went off.

Just to be safe, the two boys waited a few more minutes until they were sure the other boys were asleep before draping the silvery Invisibility Cloak over themselves and quietly going downstairs to the common room. When they reached the threshold where the stairs met the common room floor, Ron stopped abruptly and whispered, "You've got to be kidding me..."

Harry, who was behind Ron and couldn't see due to his friend's height, asked, "What? Is there still someone down here?"

"Yeah, Hermione is," Ron grumpily replied, "She's got all her books down here...blimey, is she still looking for Flamel?" The two began to tiptoe across the common room.

"I guess so. She is determined..." Harry whispered, trailing off as he stepped on a stray Fanged Frisbee that had been lying on the floor. It immediately sprung into action and began bouncing around on the floor, biting at the seemingly vacant air. Hermione, startled by the sudden noise, looked up and glanced around until she saw the bouncing disk. She looked at the surrounding air suspiciously but gave up and went back to reading when she didn't see anything.

Ron and Harry quickly made for the door, slowly opening the portrait hole and closing it behind them, ignoring the Fat Lady's protests. They crept down the hallway for a couple of minutes until Ron came across a tapestry of Gladys the Giddy. "I remember Fred and George saying something about this tapestry. Apparently there's a staircase behind it that leads to the fourth floor," he whispered, inspecting the witch in the picture who was currently inhaling the contents of a bottle of Ogden's Best Firewhiskey.

"Great. We'll need to remember that," Harry replied, giving the drunken witch a skeptical look as she danced around the tapestry. His friend pulled aside the tapestry and revealed a tight, spiraling staircase. The two boys ducked into the descending passageway, pulling the tapestry closed behind them.

A few minutes later, Harry and Ron emerged from the winding corridor on the fourth floor, in a hallway with only one exit, at the opposite end from where they were. The two boys walked down the narrow hallway until they reached the door, and Harry pulled open the door.

The boys walked into an unused classroom, full of boxes and dusty furniture. There was a tightly bolted door on the other side of the room, and silvery moonlight flooded the room through the windows on the far side of the room. Harry pulled the Invisibility Cloak off of them as they began to look through the room.

As Ron looked at a box of broken and old broomsticks near the other door, Harry wandered over to a mirror that stood against the back wall of the room. It was very tall, stretching about ten feet into the air. There was a curious inscription at the top of the mirror that read, 'Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.' Harry assumed it was a foreign language and went to leave when some movement in the mirror caused him to stop. He looked a little closer and saw something both amazing and disturbing.

A man with messy black hair and glasses was standing in the mirror, surrounded by a woman his age, a bunch of children, and multiple other people. The man looked shockingly like Harry's father, but as he looked closer, Harry noticed that the man had green eyes. "Is that me?" he whispered, looking at the man, who nodded slightly and smiled at him.

The young man in front of the mirror tore his eyes from his apparent future self and looked at the other people in the mirror. The older Harry had his arm around a woman with long red hair and a happy expression on her face. She was very pretty and laughed as older Harry kissed her cheek. Interestingly enough, Harry could also see older versions of Ron, Hermione, the Weasleys, his parents and sister, the Blacks, Remus, and even Dumbledore, who had a hand on one of older Harry's shoulder. The large group was standing in front of a medium to large sized house in the middle of the countryside, with no cities, towns, or other people or houses in sight.

Ron's voice broke Harry out of his trance as he strolled over and asked, "Oi, what are you looking at, mate?"

"Can you see them, Ron? This mirror shows the future!" Harry exclaimed, "I'm there, and you and Hermione are there, and all our family and friends are there, and I think I have a wife!"

Ron looked at his friend skeptically, but he walked over and glanced at the mirror for a moment. His eyes widened, and he remained where he was, staring at whatever he saw in the mirror.

"Ron, do you see them?" Harry asked, looking at the mirror briefly before lightly shaking his best friend's shoulder.

"No, I see myself," Ron murmured in reply.

"What?" Harry asked intelligently, looking back at the mirror, where he still saw his future family and friends.

"Yeah, I'm there. I...I think I'm Head Boy," his redheaded friend replied, "Yeah, and I'm Quidditch captain, too. I've got both badges on, and the Quidditch Cup's there, too."

"That's great, Ron." Harry breathed, "Maybe this mirror really does show the future." Both boys sat down and gazed at the mirror and the images it showed, not noticing they weren't alone anymore.

"Not quite, Harry." The two boys' heads whipped around to see Professor Dumbledore standing a few feet away, smiling benignly.

"P-Professor, I can explain..." Harry started to say, but Professor Dumbledore held up his hand and lightly shook his head.

"There's nothing to explain. You aren't in trouble, Harry, nor are you, Mr. Weasley," he said.

"We aren't?" Ron asked curiously.

"No, you aren't. I had a feeling your father would give you his Invisibility Cloak at some point, Harry, so I can forgive your desire to learn more about the castle with it," Dumbledore said, walking over to the mirror, "I must warn you two about the dangers of this mirror, however."

"How is the mirror dangerous, sir?" Harry asked, "Is it some kind of Dark artifact?" Dumbledore chucked and shook his head.

"No, no, I would not have left something of that sort in an abandoned classroom," he replied, "No, this is a rather curious mirror. I assume you boys have seen what it can show you?" When they nodded, he asked, "Do you know what it shows?"

"Does it show the future, sir?" Harry asked.

"An excellent guess, Harry, but not exactly right," the Headmaster said, "If you don't mind me asking, what did you two see in the mirror?"

Harry and Ron both described what each saw in the mirror, and when they were done, Dumbledore asked, "Do you know what the secret of the Mirror of Erised is now?"

Ron looked like he was contemplating his answer for a few moments before he hesitantly asked, "Does it show what we desire?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled madly as he responded, "Very good, Mr. Weasley. Five points to Gryffindor." While Ron was looking pleased with himself, the professor asked, "How did you figure it out?"

Ron's ears began to turn pink, but he replied, "Well, I looked at the writing above the mirror and saw that Erised was 'desire' spelled backwards."

"You are correct. This mirror reflects your heart's deepest desire. I won't embarrass either of you by trying to guess what that is, but I think you can figure it out with a little contemplation." As both boys looked relieved, Dumbledore turned away and continued, "I do need to tell both of you something. Many witches and wizards have wasted away in front of this mirror. This is only a temporary home for the mirror, and it will be moved to a new and secure location in the coming days. I must implore that both of you won't try to find the mirror again after I have moved it. Do I have your word?"

Both boys nodded solemnly and said, "Yes, Professor."

"Alright, then I must also ask that you two get to bed, and try not to make wandering around after curfew a habit," he requested, though his eyes were still twinkling.

Harry and Ron nodded and slipped under the Invisibility Cloak, opening the door and walking back to the Gryffindor dormitory. Fortunately, Hermione had gone to bed in their absence, so the two boys made their way upstairs and into bed with no problem.

…xXx…

The new term had begun, and it seemed that the Christmas holidays reenergized the teachers. All the teachers were working the first years to the bone, leaving Harry, Ron, and Hermione almost no time to research the elusive Nicolas Flamel. The working fever had also spread to Quidditch, as Wood was acting more like a slave driver than ever and working his team harder than before

After a particularly tough practice a month into the new term, he brought news of a less than helpful tip he had received after the team was done changing.

"Stop it, you two!" Wood snapped at the twins, who were whispering at Angelina, Alicia, and Katie in the corner, "I think this is more important than your flirting!"

George rolled his eyes and got up, walking behind Wood, Fred following close behind. Wood didn't pay attention to them and announced, "Okay, team, McGonagall told me about this at breakfast today, but I didn't want to tell you lot until practice was over so your performance wouldn't suffer because of it. She told me that Snape will be refereeing the next match." Fred and George, who were imitating Wood's movements behind his back, instantly stopped and began protesting along with the rest of the team. Wood held his hands up to stop the commotion and continued, "I would be willing to be that he'll be looking for stupid things to call penalties on us for..." he turned around and pointed at the twins, who were frozen in a mirror image of Wood's current position, "...like what you two were doing during practice!" The twins dropped their pointed fingers and pretended to nod solemnly. Wood glared at them for a few moments before he turned back around to face the rest of his team.

"Is there any way to protest it?" Alicia asked meekly. Wood ran his hands through his hair but didn't answer immediately, instead pacing around the locker room.

"Even if there was, Snape would get back at us for it at some point," Angelina muttered to her best friend, who sighed resignedly.

Harry, who had remained relatively silent throughout the whole thing, got up and said, "I'd really like to stay and help you figure something out, but I have essays from both Snape and Sprout to do. I'll see you all later." He waved to the rest of the team and left with his broom in hand, barely noticing the twins shouting, "Come back when you can stay longer!" and Wood snapping at them.

When he reached the Gryffindor common room, he made a beeline for the chairs in front of the fire, where Hermione was unsuccessfully attempting to help Ron understand the magical properties of the Tickling Tomato.

When Ron saw Harry, he slammed his book shut, ignoring Hermione's protest, and said, "Thank Merlin you're here, mate! Hermione won't let me take a break!"

"If you would pay more attention to the properties of the plant and not the fact that it looks like food, Ronald..." their bushy haired friend seethed, "...maybe we would've been done by now!"

Ron began to open his mouth to send back a retort, but Harry quickly said, "Please don't start arguing. I'm way too tired to get up and leave."

"What's the deal, mate? Has Wood been working you guys too hard?" Ron asked curiously.

Harry stretched out his legs on the couch and replied, "That's part of the issue, but the main thing is that Snape's going to be the referee for our next match."

His friends' reactions were amusing to watch. Hermione immediately frowned and looked to be in deep thought, while Ron gaped at his friend for a few moments before loudly exclaiming, "Snape's the bloody referee? You have to go to Dumbledore, mate! There's no way that the match will be fair!"

Harry shrugged, mostly trying to relax, and Hermione added her thoughts by first snapping, "Ron, language!" Ron rolled his eyes dramatically, and she turned to her other friend and said, "Harry, you do need to go to either Professor Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall. Maybe they can ensure that Snape will at least be a little fair."

The Boy-Who-Lived sat up for a moment and took Ron's last Chocolate Frog, ignoring his friend's protests. "I'll probably write to Dad and ask him what he thinks. He could talk to Dumbledore," he stated, tearing open the package and ripping the frog's head off with his teeth. While his two best friends began to come up with other ideas ranging from breaking Snape's leg to breaking Harry's leg, he stuffed the rest of the chocolate in his mouth and absentmindedly looked at the Chocolate Frog card. It was one of Albus Dumbledore, which Harry had about fifteen of, and the picture of Dumbledore smiled at him as his eyes twinkled madly. Harry turned the card over, and his eyes widened as he read the short biographical paragraph.

"Ron, Hermione, get over here!" he whispered excitedly, "I found Flamel!" The two stopped debating the merits of turning Snape's feet into tree roots and ran over to sit next to Harry. He held out the card to allow them to read it.

_ALBUS DUMBLEDORE_

_Currently Headmaster of Hogwarts_

_Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindlewald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel._

_Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling. _

(Taken from HP & tSS, US Edition)

When she was done reading the card, Hermione gasped in recognition, jumped up, and ran towards the girls' dormitory stairs, exclaiming, "Hold on, I just remembered something!" Harry and Ron looked at each other in confusion, but they didn't have to wait long, as their friend returned a moment later with a large book the size of her school bag and twice as heavy. A dust cloud flew into the air when she slammed it onto the table in front of them.

"I got this for a light read before bedtime, but it's got something about Flamel in it. Let me find it," she blurted out before opening the book and scanning the many pages. She ignored Ron's sarcastic comment about her definition of 'light reading' and finally found the entry and read it to her two male friends, who looked slightly confused until she got to the part about the Elixir of Life, the Sorcerer's Stone, which set off a lot of mental alarms.

When she finished, Harry said, "I bet that's what is under that trapdoor guarded by Hagrid's...dog thing. No wonder Snape wants to steal it!"

After an awkward pause, Ron asked, "Speaking of Snape, what're you going to do about the match?"

Harry sighed and said, "I have to play. He'll still call more penalties on us than normal even if I'm not there, so all I can do is hope for is that I catch the Snitch as quickly as possible." Ron didn't look too pleased, but Hermione looked did and nodded happily. The two got up and went to dinner, and Harry told him he'd follow in a few minutes so he could change. He ran through the shower and got on a new set of robes before running down to dinner.

...xXx...Two Weeks Later, Quidditch Pitch...xXx...

"Wow, Dumbledore decided to come to a match. That's new!" Fred commented, taking a look outside before the match started.

"What? Really?" Harry asked quickly. Fred nodded and pointed to the teacher's stands, where long white hair and a matching beard. That made Harry feel ten times better, since he knew Snape wouldn't dare try something dirty with the powerful headmaster watching the match.

Outside, Snape blew his whistle, and everyone snapped to attention. "Well, that's our signal. Just ignore Snape and concentrate on the game, guys," Wood said, "And girls," he added when the three Chasers cleared their throats loudly. Wood got onto his broom and took to the skies, followed by the rest of his team.

Harry ascended to get a good look of the field and saw the greasy Potions professor lazily saying the rules. Looking around at the stands, he saw his sister and her best friend next to Sirius and Romulus. Harry noted that Catherine and Romulus still seemed to be not talking to each other, as his sister was sitting as far away as possible from the Black son. Ron, Hermione, and Neville were sitting a row behind them, and in the row behind them sat Malfoy and his lumbering bodyguards. Ron and Malfoy appeared to be having a verbal war of sorts, and it looked like Neville added in his two Knuts every so often as well. Harry secretly hoped Ron and Neville would punch out Malfoy and his goons and get them out of his and his friends' hair for awhile.

The whistle sounded again, and Harry immediately began looking for the Snitch. Unfortunately, ten seconds into the match, Snape called a penalty on Alicia for an illegal pass that was perfectly legal. No matter the protests from the Gryffindors, he still gave a shot to Hufflepuff, which they made, putting them ahead early. Harry ignored the Chasers and concentrated on the Snitch, which had not show itself.

A few seconds later, Harry got sidetracked by the fight between Ron, Neville, Malfoy, and his goons. He soon had to tear his eyes away after paying too much attention to Ron and Neville beating up Malfoy and his goons because the Snitch flew straight by Harry's nose two minutes into the match. He took off after it, weaving between Weasleys, Bludgers, and Hufflepuffs. He even blew by Snape and gave him a scare before he grasped the Snitch and ended the match.

He flew to the ground, guffawing at the look on Snape's face before getting mauled by the Gryffindor team, followed by a sea of red and gold from the stands.

Fred and George were shaking him around, chanting, "Potter is the King!" over and over again. All three Chasers hugged and kissed his cheeks multiple times, and Wood thumped him on the back. The Gryffindors that were in the stands finally reached them. Ron joined in with the twins' chant, and Hermione ran up and hugged him, shrieking loudly. The celebrations continued for a few minutes until Harry felt a tugging on the sleeve of his Quidditch robes. He looked down and saw his best friend's sister looking extremely self-conscious.

"Hey, Gin! Where's Sirius, Romulus, and my sister?" Harry said, smiling down at her.

She finally looked up at him with her ever present blush on her face and said, "Um...I think Crissy's taking the long way around since Romulus ticked her off again, and the Blacks were right behind me," she replied, looking back where she had come from. A few seconds later, Sirius and Romulus pushed their way over to Harry.

"Great match, Harry! You really gave Snivellus a good scare, didn't you?" Sirius exclaimed happily. Harry grinned at him and gave his honorary uncle a high five.

Remembering what Ginny had said, he asked Romulus, who was trying to discreetly look around, "Hey, Romulus, what've you done to torture my sister now?"

Sirius' face grew much more serious and he, not too indiscreetly, poked his son. Romulus glared at his father and finally said, "I gave her some sweets of Fred and George's on accident. They made her face turn green and her nose all warty and her hair got all poofy. Apparently they had modeled them after that witch in the Muggle movie your family showed all of us a few years ago. And this just when I finally got her to start talking to me again..." Harry sighed and rolled his eyes when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He knew who it was and could practically feel her anger seeping off of her through her magic.

Sirius saw who it was as well and said, "Okay, Romulus, we'd better get out of here before something bad happens to you or to me by association." His son nodded and quickly began walking away, sparing a few glances at the redheaded package of fury behind Harry and Ginny. Sirius looked at Harry again and said, "Once again, great game, Harry. We'll see you around. Ginny, you and Crissy come on to the front gates whenever you are ready." Ginny nodded, and Harry assumed that Catherine did the same behind him. Sirius waved one last time as he ran off after his son.

When the coast was clear, Harry turned around and looked down at his baby sister, who was scowling in the Blacks' general direction. She looked up at her brother and said, "Just one question and I'll drop it. Did you know about what he did?" Harry knew what she was talking about and quickly shook his head, and Catherine nodded, gave him a brief hug, and left the two alone.

Ginny looked up at Harry once again and squeaked, "I'll see you around, Harry!" before running off after her best friend. He watched them walk away and finally left to get changed, shaking his head in confusion.

...xXx...

As the school year moved through March and into April, both the teachers and Hermione were making it very hard to Harry and Ron to look for anything in the library associated with the Sorcerer's Stone or Nicolas Flamel. The teachers were piling homework on them like they had never done before, and Hermione was bugging them to make up study timelines and notes. It was one such day in the library that she began anew on a studying tirade.

Her head popped above the books gathered around her to glare at the two boys across from her that were propping their heads up with their hands. "You two really are lazy. You haven't done any preparation for exams! You two do know you're running out of time, don't you?" she hissed before returning to her work.

"Look, Hermione, finals are six weeks away. There's no need to get in a rush. We have plenty of time," Ron groaned. He looked at all of the parchment scattered on Hermione's side of the table and promptly banged his head on the table. Harry didn't bother looking up because he was too busy trying to finish an essay for Professor Sprout on Tortulian Tulips that was due next period. He did look up, however, when he heard Ron exclaim a few minutes later, "Hey, Hagrid, what are you doing in here?" Harry glanced around to see where his large friend was, and sure enough, Hagrid was crouching down behind some shelves with books about magical animals on them. He looked like he was trying to hide from sight, and when Ron called attention to him, he visibly cringed but turned to face the three Gryffindors.

"I'm jus' lookin' around for sum books about me animals," he muttered, glancing around furtively. His eyes finally rested on them as he gave the three and the books on the table a calculating stare, "What're you lot here for?" he asked evasively.

"We're just studying...or at least, I'm studying," Hermione said, glaring at her two friends.

Harry opened his mouth to protest, "I'm trying to work, but these two," and he gestured at his two companions, "keep arguing with each other." Ron and Hermione opened their mouths to protest, but Harry quickly continued before they could say anything, "Actually, Hagrid, it's a good thing we saw you in here."

"Why's that?" the large man asked suspiciously, eyeing the young Potter.

"Well, we had a few questions about what else is guarding the stone besides Fluffy..."

"Shh! Not in here! Come later on and I'll tell yeh. Just don't go blabberin' about it!" Hagrid muttered, his eyes darting around again before walking off with a couple of books hidden away in his jacket.

When he was out of earshot, Hermione waved Ron over and asked, "Hey, Ron, what was he looking at?" The redhead went over to the shelves Hagrid had been browsing in and looked at the subject material there. He soon ran back over with a few books in his arms.

"He was looking at books about raising dragons!" he said excitedly. Hermione's back immediately went as straight as a board as she looked close to exploding.

"Dragons? What is he thinking? Breeding dragons in Britain is punishable by a life sentence in Azbakan!" Hermione spluttered. She took a book from Ron's arms titled _British Dragon Legislature_ and immersed herself in it. Ron sat the rest of the books down on the table and took his seat again.

"Well, do you reckon we'd better see what Hagrid could tell us, mate?" he asked of his male best friend.

Harry shrugged. "He probably won't tell us anything, but we can at least see why he was so interested in the dragon breeding books." Ron nodded and went back to doodling on the parchment in front of him, while Harry finished his Herbology essay.

...xXx...

Later that night, the three stole down to Hagrid's cabin underneath Harry's Invisibility Cloak. Ron beat on the door to the cabin, sending Hagrid's boarhound Fang into a round of frantic barks and whines. The kindly caretaker quickly opened the door and let them in, shooting furtive glances into the dark before closing the door.

Harry shucked the Invisibility Cloak off of them and stuffed it into a pocket before bending down to pet Fang on the head. Ron and Hermione immediately noticed the large black egg sitting in a basket on the table, and Ron blurted out, "Hagrid, where the bloody hell did you get a dragon egg?" His female friend swatted his arm in remonstration of his language, and he muttered something incoherent under his breath as he rubbed at his arm.

"Well, I won it off of a stranger in a pub last night. 'Course, he had his face covered, since dragon breeding's discouraged 'ere in Britain," Hagrid said proudly, putting the egg in a large pot that was suspended over a fire. He ignored Hermione's utterance of "Discouraged is not the same as illegal..." and continued, "Said the little tyke was supposed to hatch tonight, so that's why I was up in teh library earlier! Never been around a dragon before, so it's good I went to look in some books earlier, I reckon."

Hermione's face turned pastel white, and she backed up until her back was to the wall. She suddenly found an interest in her hair, which covered up the window on the wall she was leaning again. Harry and Ron, however, walked over to the fireplace to get a better look at the egg, which was beginning to wiggle around in the pot.

A few minutes later, the egg was practically bouncing around in the pot, and Hagrid was consulting one of his books from the library. He slipped on some gloves and grabbed a pair of tongs hanging on a hook next to the fireplace "Oh, I think it's about ready. Better move away, you lot," he said, taking the egg back out of the pot and placing it back in the basket on the table. Hermione moved a few inches to the right to get a better look at the hatching but didn't go any closer to the wobbling egg. Harry and Ron, however, were right next to Hagrid, watching the egg as noises began to issue from within.

A few seconds later, the egg began to crack, and after a few more seconds, a small, wrinkly, black dragon dragged itself out of the egg. Hagrid immediately picked it up, murmuring, "Aww, ain't 'e precious?"

"Wow...I've never seen a live dragon before..." Ron gasped in amazement, kneeling down so he was at eye level with the newborn creature, "I mean, Charlie's told me about them, but we've never gotten a chance to visit him in Romania..." Harry was just as amazed, but he didn't say a thing, instead choosing to look at the dragon in awe. Hermione remained where she was, trying to look uninterested, but her academic spirit betrayed her, and she began to walk closer to the table to look at the dragon.

"Oh, I think I'll name the little guy Norbert," Hagrid said happily, only partially paying attention to his beard, which had caught on fire when Norbert had sneezed at him, "He's so cute!"

"Dragons aren't cute...They're dangerous creatures..." the bushy haired witch muttered repeatedly, but even she couldn't hide her fascination with the magical creature.

Hagrid got up and walked to his cupboard, only to gasp and run to the window. The three kids tore their eyes away from Norbert, who was attempting to set the table on fire, and ran to the window. All four could see a figure running away from the cabin and up towards the castle, the moon reflecting off of the person's pale blond hair.

"Bloody hell! How did Malfoy know we were down here?" Ron exclaimed.

"It doesn't matter. You lot better get up ter the school before he says anythin' ter anyone," Hagrid muttered. He opened up the door to his cabin, ushering them outside. The three kids quickly ran up the hill to the castle, praying to whoever was out there that they wouldn't get caught.

"Fred and George told me about a passageway to the third floor that's behind the hourglasses," Ron muttered as they neared the front doors, "Let's try to get to it before anyone sees us."

The three quickly ducked inside the front doors, which were open, and darted towards the hourglasses when they heard a stern voice snap, "And just what are you three doing?" Professor McGonagall, clad in a tartan nightgown and robe, was standing in front of the doors to the Great Hall with a lantern in her hand. Draco Malfoy was standing next to her, looking quite smug.

Ron cursed under his breath, and Harry suddenly realized that they had forgotten to put on the Invisibility Cloak. Hermione's hands were tightly clutching Ron's shoulders as she tried to hide behind him, to no avail. McGonagall eyed her three students with disappointment and said, "Well, follow me." She turned around and marched down a hallway, Malfoy following behind with the triumphant smirk still on his face. Not having any other option, Harry, Ron, and Hermione grudgingly followed their angry Head of House.

When they reached her first floor office, she marched in and angrily flicked her wand at a candle on her desk, which erupted in a large flame. She muttered something under her breath and waved her wand at the blaze, which was reduced to a normal sized flame. She turned around at her desk and glared at the students in front of her.

"Never in my life have I been more embarrassed to be the Gryffindor Head of House," she seethed, "Three of my students out after curfew. Do you have anything to say to explain yourselves?" All three remained silent, so she took her head on a hand and sighed. The Transfiguration professor walked around her desk and sat down. "It pains me to say this, but you lot have left me no choice. Fifty points each from Gryffindor and fifty from Slytherin for Mr. Malfoy's curfew violation as well, along with detentions for all four of you." Harry, Ron, and Hermione's jaws dropped in horror, and Hermione's eyes began to tear up as she tried to, once again, hide behind Ron. Malfoy began protesting the punishment, but McGonagall would have nothing of it.

"No, Mr. Malfoy, a punishment is a punishment, and you won't be getting out of this one. You will be serving your detentions with Hagrid in a week or two at sunset. Now, please, return to your dorms," she snapped, "I will know if you don't return immediately." The four children present did not wish to anger the Gryffindor Head anymore, so they quickly left to avoid her anger.

...xXx...

After the whole of Gryffindor House learned of the massive point deduction, the three first years were instantly shunned. Almost everyone above second and third year either completely ignored them or snapped at them every time they were in the same general area as the three. Luckily, their fellow first years didn't seem to act any differently, and the members of the Quidditch team were not affected by the news.

Just over two weeks later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione met Malfoy and Filch in the front hall just before curfew, and Filch led them down to Hagrid's cabin. Filch, unfortunately, decided to talk to the kids on the way down as he cackled, "If it was me, I would have expelled the whole lot of you. Troublemaking brats like you four will only get worse with age..." All four first years tuned out the caretaker as he rambled on about his personal ideals concerning punishment.

When they arrived at the cabin, Filch went up to Hagrid's door and rapped on it more times than necessary. A few seconds later, Hagrid came around the side of his cabin with Fang in tow. "Eh, stop that hammerin', I'm o'er here," he growled. Filch scowled and stalked off back to the castle.

Hagrid gestured for the four kids to follow him and said, "C'mon, you lot. We're goin' into the Forbidden Forest." The three Gryffindors shrugged, consenting to their fate, and walked over to Hagrid. Hermione was a bit hesitant, but she scampered over to her friends when she heard a distant howl. Malfoy, however, was not at all as compliant as his companions.

"What? You're kidding, right? We can't go in there! Students aren't allowed! My father will hear about this!" he exclaimed, not moving an inch. Despite the situation, Harry and Ron began to smirk, and a few isolated chuckles escaped from their mouths before Hermione gave them a scandalized glare.

"That rule doesn't apply when I'm around. I'm a staff member, now let's go before it gets too late," Hagrid said with a touch of urgency that did not go unnoticed by his Gryffindor friends. He turned around and walked into the forest faster than usual. The four kids followed close behind, Malfoy staying extremely close to Fang.

Hermione caught up to Hagrid and tugged at his sleeve, which alerted him to slow down. She indicated she wanted to talk, so he leaned down as she whispered, "Hey, Hagrid, what happened to the you-know-what?"

Hagrid sniffed loudly and mumbled, "I set somethin' up with Ron's brother, Charlie. A few of his coworkers came and picked him up a few days ago. He'll have a good home in Romania with the other dragons." He pulled out a large handkerchief and blew his nose a few times as he continued walking deeper into the forest.

A few hundred yards in, Hagrid stopped and held his hand out to tell the others to do the same. He stooped down and scraped a thick, silver liquid off of the ground onto his fingers. He held his hand down and put the lantern nearby so the kids could see. "This here is unicorn blood," he said darkly, "Somethin's been killin' off the poor things over the past weeks or so. We're here to find the creature or what's been killin' them." Looking around at the path of blood, he continued, "We're goin' ter split up. Harry, you, Malfoy, and Fang go off ter the right, and we'll go ter the left." Harry and Malfoy glared at each other, but they went off in the ordered direction, Fang nervously following behind.

About ten minutes after they left Hagrid, Ron, and Hermione, the two boys and dog came across a depressed area in the forest. There, a unicorn lay on the ground, with blood coming out of a large gash in its side. Unfortunately, the injured magical creature was not the only thing there.

Someone or something was crouched down over the unicorn, sucking up the blood that came out of the wound. Malfoy let out a scared squeak, which alerted the shadowy figure to their presence. It stopped drinking the blood and got up, pausing briefly before swooping towards the boys. Malfoy screamed out in fear and ran away into the forest. Fang followed close behind, whimpering loudly. Harry tried to follow them but tripped over a branch and fell to the ground, frozen in fear. The figure came towards him, but a savior in the form of a half-man, half-horse creature saved him by tackling the shadow away from the frozen boy. The figure quickly zoomed away into the forest, disappearing into the dark gloom.

Harry slowly got to his feet and looked at the creature that had saved him, which turned out to be a centaur. "Are you alright, Harry Potter?" he asked, offering a hand to the fallen boy. Harry accepted the hand and grasped it, pulling himself up.

"Um...yeah, I think so," Harry replied uneasily, not completely trusting the sudden appearance of the centaur.

"Then get on my back, and let me explain a few things to you. The quicker we leave, the better. My name is Firenze, in case you were wondering, Harry Potter" he said. Harry shrugged and crawled onto the centaur's back, figuring there was nothing to lose. The centaur seemed to be nice enough. As soon as the first year boy was settled, the centaur took off at a crisp speed, presumably towards the castle.

"Harry Potter, what do you know about unicorn blood?" Firenze asked.

Harry racked his brain for any time he had heard of it, but he didn't remember Hermione ever hammering its uses into his brain, and he didn't recall it ever being mentioned in Potions. "Sorry, but I don't ever remember hearing anything about it at all. We've used the powdered form of unicorn horn a few times in Potions, but that's it."

"Well, let me explain something about unicorns. Simply put, they are the purest creatures you can find on this earth, and possibly in the universe. Slaying one, even one of the elderly, or the wounded, is one of humanity's worst sins," Firenze said darkly, "Unicorn blood is very powerful. It can keep a person alive even if they are moments from death. However, it comes at a price..." The centaur trailed off at the end.

When the half breed didn't immediately say anything, Harry asked uncertainly, "Um...what's the price?"

The centaur slowed to a halt, and motioned for Harry to get down. The black haired boy followed the directions without protest. When he was off, Firenze put his hands on Harry's shoulders and looked him straight in the eye. "You'll become a cursed being, never fully being human again," Firenze replied solemnly.

Harry was instantly confused and questioned the centaur, "Then, why would you do it in the first place? It doesn't seem like it's worth it."

Firenze shot back with a question, "Can you not think of anyone who would desire the right to live, no matter the cost?" The answer was not immediately apparent to Harry, but the person soon came to mind, and Harry did not see it necessary to answer the question out loud.

The awkward moment was broken by Hagrid, Ron, and Hermione running down a hill towards them. Malfoy appeared at the top of the hill a few seconds later, and he elected to stay there with Fang, shooting dubious glances at the centaur every few seconds.

Before any of them could say anything, Harry ran up to his large friend and exclaimed, "Hagrid, the unicorn's still alive! It's back behind us!"

Hagrid's eyes widened, and he shouted, "Okay, then you lot get back up ter the school. I'll get the unicorn!" He turned to the centaur and said, "Thanks fer your help, Firenze. Help them get back ter my cabin, okay?" He then ran off to find the fallen animal without receiving confirmation from the centaur.

Firenze, with Fang's somewhat helpful assistance, led the four kids back to the edge of the forest. While the rest of the kids walked towards the cabin, Firenze grabbed Harry's arm. The young boy stopped and turned to face the centaur, who simply said, "It was good to talk to you, Harry Potter. I sense great things in your future, and I wish you well on your life's journeys. Hopefully we will meet again." The centaur then galloped back into the forest, quickly disappearing in the dark.

...xXx...

I hope you enjoy the double chapter release!


	8. Book 1: Race for the Stone

Disclaimer: I do not own _Harry Potter_ or anything related to J.K. Rowling's works except for my own original characters and storylines.

...xXx...Chapter 8 – Hunt for the Stone...xXx...

Exams soon arrived, and all of the three's efforts turned to concentrating on the exams, once again putting Nicolas Flamel second to their studies. Harry believed that he did relatively well, but the continuous stabbing pains from his scar kept him occupied for most of the time, so he couldn't really keep all his attention on studying and taking tests.

Currently, the three were walking down to Hagrid's cabin for a cool down after their last exam. Ron was praising the heavens and all known deities that they were all over, Hermione was both chastising him about shouting so loudly and trying to go over his and her answers on the History of Magic exam, and Harry would have been doing the same as Ron if his mind wasn't so occupied on the Stone.

As they started down the hill, somehow their discussion with Hagrid about how he had acquired the dragon egg came to Harry's mind. He remembered something specific about how Hagrid had gotten the egg, and something clicked in his eleven year old mind. He broke into a sprint, surprising Ron and Hermione, and arrived at the hut within a minute, ignoring his friends' exclamations.

Harry burst into the cabin, surprising his large friend, who was just sitting down with a bucket sized cup of tea. "Hagrid! Who was the person who gave you the egg?" he exclaimed.

The half-giant looked surprised at the seemingly random question but still thought for a moment and said, "I told yeh. I couldn't see his face because of the cloak he was wearin'." Ron and Hermione arrived and came in, not talking so they could listen to the conversation.

Harry looked frustrated for a second but quickly thought of something else, "Well, what did you talk about?"

"Well, I was kinda drunk, so I can't really remember much..." Hagrid muttered, looking a bit sheepish, "...but I told him about the creatures I took care of...and he asked if I could handle a dragon, so I told him that after raising Fluffy, a dragon would be easy to take care of..." He trailed off, obviously deep in thought.

"Is there anything else?" Harry pressed.

His large friend took a gulp from his tea bucket, and something seemed to click, as Hagrid exclaimed, "Oh, yeah, he seemed ter be curious about Fluffy, so I told him a few thin's about him. I said him that the best way to handle Fluffy was ter give him some music, and he goes right ter sleep..." He didn't get a chance to finish, since the three raced out of his cabin and back up to the castle, Harry shouting his thanks back as they ran up the hill. Hagrid realized what he had said and slammed his head on the table in disgust.

They reached the top and ran along the path to the entrance to the castle. Ron pushed the doors open, and Harry said, "We need to find Professor Dumbledore, and fast!"

"I think his office is on the seventh floor," Hermione supplied. The three stopped and walked over to the wall to catch their breath, and Ron pointed to the grand staircase corridor as they formed a circle and crouched down.

"Everyone's either outside the castle or in their common rooms," Ron panted, "The staircases won't have anyone on them, so we'd better get moving before anyone starts asking questions."

"May I ask where you need to go before anyone asks questions, Mr. Weasley?" Harry, Ron, and Hermione jumped in surprise and scampered to their feet, bumping into each other and stumbling around. Professor McGonagall was standing a few feet away. She had a few books in her arms, and she was giving the three first years a stern look.

"Um...well...you see..." Ron stammered, looking around wildly for someone to save him from his Head of House.

Thankfully, Hermione interjected and said, "We needed to see Professor Dumbledore, so we were about to go find his office to speak with him."

One of McGonagall's eyebrows rose briefly in surprise, but she quickly reassumed her stern demeanor and replied, "That would be difficult to do at the moment, Miss Granger."

"Why?" Ron spluttered, momentarily forgetting who he was talking to, "We need to tell him that the Sorceror's Stone is in danger! Someone is going to steal it!" Harry and Hermione gaped at their redheaded friend for a moment before Harry slapped his hand on his head in frustration and Hermione squeaked in terror.

McGonagall didn't try to hide her shock this time as she stared at Ron in shock. It took her a few moments to regain her composure, and even after that, she was still a bit flustered. "Well, Mr. Weasley..." she said, "I neither know nor want to know where you found out about the Stone, but I assure you it is completely safe."

"But Professor..." Harry tried to say, but McGonagall held up a hand and stopped him.

"If it makes you feel better, I will check on the Stone later, but I know it is perfectly safe," she said, though she did look a little nervous, "Now, I believe that your exams are over, correct?" The three kids nodded, and the Transfiguration teacher gave them a small smile, "I'd suggest relaxing outside. It is a wonderful day, and you don't need to be worrying about something like the Stone." She turned around and walked stiffly to the main staircases.

As soon as she was out of earshot, the Gryffindors immediately ran to the common room and began planning.

...xXx...

Later that night, Harry and Ron slipped out of bed and stealthily got dressed as to not wake up their roommates. As Harry grabbed his Invisibility Cloak out of his trunk, Ron whispered to him, "Where's Neville? He's not in his bed."

Harry looked over and saw that Neville's bed curtains were hanging open, and there was no Longbottom to be seen inside the four poster. "Maybe he had a detention with Snape tonight," Harry whispered back, "The greasy git was in a right mood when we were revising the week before exams." Ron shrugged and tiptoed to the door, Harry following close behind.

There was still a small flame in the fireplace, so the room was bathed in long, twirling shadows as the boys reached the bottom of the boys' dormitory staircase, where Hermione was sitting on the bottom step. "Are you sure we should be doing this?" she whispered frantically, "Professor McGonagall said she would check on the Stone, and I think we would have heard about something if someone had gone after it."

Ron clamped a hand over her mouth until she slapped him rather hard on the back of the head. While he rubbed where she had hit him, he muttered, "We don't need you waking up the whole house. They're already angry enough at us for losing all of those points a while back. Let's just get out of here before someone finds us."

Harry tossed the Invisibility Cloak over himself and his two friends, moments before a timid voice from by the fireplace said, "Where are you going?" A figure sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace stood up and turned around to face in the general direction of the three kids. The light from the dying fireplace splashed across his face, revealing the figure to be Neville. "I know you're here, Hermione, and I think Ron's here, too." He paused and looked at his feet for a moment, apparently deep in thought. Harry was about to whisper to his friends to make a break for it, but Neville spoke up again, "I hope you aren't going out again. You know that everyone will be even angrier at you if you do."

Hermione glanced at Harry under the Cloak, and the black haired boy shrugged and half-heartedly nodded, indicating he knew what Hermione wanted to do. He pulled the Cloak back of, and Neville's eyes widened in surprise. "Neville, you don't understand," Ron said quietly.

"Why not? You're going to get us in more trouble!" the plump boy cried out.

"No, we aren't," Hermione said quickly, making a shushing motion with her pointer finger, "We're...uh..." she glanced at her friends for support, and predictably, they had no idea what she was on about, so she improvised, "...we're...protecting other people from getting into trouble, really."

Neville didn't speak for a few moments, and the three friends thought they could try to make another break for it, but he spoke up and said defiantly, "I'm going to tell Professor McGonagall if you leave. I'm not afraid to!" Harry duly noted that despite what he said, the shy boy was nervously shaking.

"Neville, please don't..." he started to stay, but Hermione stopped him by holding her hand softly over his mouth and shushing.

She walked over so she was only a few feet away from Neville and murmured, "Sorry about this," before quickly lifting her wand and exclaiming as quietly and forcefully as possible, "_Petrificus Totalus!_" Neville, not at all expecting a spell, was quickly Petrified and fell to the ground like a board, face up so his eyes could still angrily dart around.

Hermione quickly darted around him, muttering to herself, "I attacked someone...I attacked someone..." She snatched the Invisibility Cloak out of Harry's hands and quickly climbed out of the portrait hole.

"I'm really sorry about that, Neville..." Harry whispered hurriedly.

"...but it was for your own good, you know," Ron added as the two boys followed their female friend out of the common room. The Petrified boy could do nothing but glare at the three kids until they were out of his sight range.

Harry and Ron got under the shimmering cloak to join Hermione, who was still muttering to herself, and the three began their trek to the third floor, retracing their steps from a few months prior. Asides from a slight run-in with Mrs. Norris on the staircases, they were met with no resistance.

Finally, the three adventurous children reached the forbidden third floor corridor. Due to the absence of light in the corridor, none of them could see the door until they were right at it, and immediately they noticed something amiss.

"The door's open," Harry noted, a hint of fear evident in his voice.

"Snape's already been here," Hermione whispered frantically, "We don't have much time!"

Ron nodded and tiptoed into the room, despite his friends' attempts to restrain him. He shook them off and turned around, giving them a questioning glare. Harry hissed, "Are you mad? Fluffy'll rip you to shreds!"

The young redhead looked confused. He pointed into the room, which was dark enough that Harry and Hermione couldn't see from where they were, but Ron could see, "The dog's asleep, and there's something in there playing music. I think it's a harp."

Hermione looked at her friend like he was crazy, but Harry, seeing that Ron was not immediately ripped to shreds by the cerberus, cautiously took a few steps so that he was standing next to his best friend. As the redhead had said, Fluffy was peacefully lying on the floor, fast asleep, and a harp was in the corner of the room, playing through a spell cast on it. The trapdoor, usually below some part of Fluffy, was wide open, as Fluffy was currently asleep in a different part of the room.

"Could we please just get going before the dog wakes up?" Hermione hissed, darting over to hide behind Ron's tall frame.

Harry was already almost to the trapdoor, and he turned around as he sat down on the edge and said, "See you in a minute," before he pushed off the edge and fell down into the shaft. Ron walked over to the open trapdoor as well and jumped in, Hermione following as close behind as possible. None of the kids realized that the harp had just stopped playing as Hermione's hair cleared the trapdoor, and Fluffy began to growl as it woke up from its abrupt nap. An inadvertent stretch of its front right paw hit the trapdoor, which fell shut.

When Hermione fell the hundred or so feet below the trapdoor, she landed on a soft, fleshy surface, just like her two friends, who were currently lying nearby on the same substance.

"Well, that was fun," Ron commented lightly.

"Oh, yeah, Ron. It's not like we're trying to save the Wizarding world or anything," Hermione snapped sarcastically, a moment before she thought about what came out of her mouth and clamped her hand over her mouth. Harry turned his head away, and Ron shook his own head in disgust.

"Good job, Hermione. Way to put a damper on things..." he muttered, shifting around on the soft surface.

Before the lone female could shoot back a retort, Harry interrupted and said, "Could you two please go two minutes without fighting about something?" Yanking at his leg, he continued, a worried tone evident in his voice, "I think the floor's got my leg."

That got his friends' attention, as they stopped arguing immediately and looked at his leg through the dark of the room. Sure enough, his right leg had a snaking vine wrapped around it. Before anyone could do anything about it, Ron yelped, reverting his friends' attention to him. "I'm getting strangled!" he wheezed, coughing violently.

"Wait a second, Ron! I'll try to get you out!" Harry shouted back, trying to sound confident, but the vine was tightening around his leg and was nearing his abdomen. Hermione was making no effort to try to fight the vines in her hair and around her arms, instead adopting her thinking pose.

"Hold on...this looks like...yes, that's it!" she said triumphantly.

"Well, hurry up! It's hard to breathe!" Harry choked out.

"You both need to relax! It's Devil's Snare!" she snapped, "It tightens around anything that struggles against it!"

"Now you tell us!" Ron gasped. He and Harry both attempted to relax, but their fear of the grappling vines made it a tough task. Harry eventually managed to completely calm down, but Ron's attempts just made him struggle even more, and the vines were almost completely around his body.

"Okay, what did Professor Sprout say...it likes damp and dark places like swamps...so fire or light would drive it off!" Hermione finally deduced.

"Well, hurry up!" Harry exclaimed, "Ron can't take those vines for much longer!.

"But there's no wood!" she retorted, tapping her finger against her head in frustration.

"ARE YOU DAFT? NO WOOD!? ARE YOU A BLOODY WITCH OR NOT?" Ron bellowed before the vines reached his mouth and closed it off to speaking.

His smart friend slapped her head in realization, whipped out her hand, and shouted, "_Incendio Cerula!_" The bluebell flame that she had used earlier on Snape at the Quidditch match erupted from her wand and drove back the vines into a circular grate on the revealed concrete floor. Ron was sitting up on the floor nearby, rubbing his throat and gasping for breath, but otherwise alright.

"Good job, Hermione," Harry said doggedly, "Thank Merlin you pay attention in Herbology." Hermione swatted at him good naturedly on her way to see if Ron was alright.

"Thanks, Hermione," he choked out when she approached him, "I don't know what I'd do without you."

It was too dark for anyone except the owner to see or know about the blush that appeared across Hermione's face, but she helped up her friend and said, "Well, maybe if you paid attention more, we wouldn't be in this kind of situation again." Ron was too thankful to still be alive to snap back a retort.

As soon as Ron was able to get moving comfortably again, they began down the lone hallway in the room, which was on a continual downward grade. As they approached a doorway with a little light shining through it, they realized that there was a sort of buzzing noise emanating from it.

"Don't tell me we have to get through a room of bees next?" Ron groaned.

"Well, you two are wizards, and I'm a witch, as you astutely pointed out earlier," Hermione shot back, "so I doubt we'll have many issues." Harry resisted the urge to burst out in laughter.

Ron at least had the decency to look somewhat sheepish. "Oh, yeah, good point..." he muttered as they reached the next room. It was extremely tall, reaching at least seventy feet into the air. The moon was visible through the clear ceiling, which made no sense. A few lanterns were positioned on the wall near the ceiling, but the white, round shape centered in the glass ceiling was definitely the moon.

Ron seemed to think so because he asked, "Aren't we underground? How can we see the moon underground?" He observed the shining sphere, scratching his head in curiosity. Hermione didn't immediately answer, indicating she had no answer either.

Harry, however, had an idea and put it out for consideration, "Maybe we're under the lake." When his friends looked at him in obvious confusion, he pointed up and continued, "Yeah, look. You can see things moving up there. Something crosses in front of the moon every so often." Indeed, when his friends looked up at the ceiling, between the buzzing objects present in the room, they could see something float between the ceiling and the moon every few seconds.

"I think you're right, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, beaming at her famous best friend.

"Yeah, but it doesn't explain what those buzzing things are," Ron added smartly, waving his hand in the general direction of the buzzing objects. Hermione stepped out into the light of the center of the room and squinted her eyes as she looked at the flying objects.

A few minutes later, her eyes widened, and a look of recognition dawned on her face. "They're winged keys!" she exclaimed, waving her friends over to stand with her.

When they came to stand next to her and looked up, both boys were able to see the multitude of shiny, winged keys fluttering around near the top of the room.

"Okay, we need to get the right key to fit into that door," Hermione said, getting into her zone, "Harry, go see what kind of key might fit the door. Ron, get those brooms, "she pointed to where a few brooms were propped up a few feet from the door, "over there so we can get the key later." Harry and Ron went to do their respective tasks while Hermione continued to look for something fluttering around that might give them a clue.

When they returned, Ron handed his friends a broom each (Hermione took hers a little reluctantly) and kept one for himself. Harry reported his findings, "The door has a big, bulky doorknob. It looked silver, so I bet that's the type of key that we need to find."

"Well, let's not waste time. I'd rather not be on a broom any longer than I have to be..." Hermione grumbled, uneasily mounting her broom. Ron held back a snort of laughter as he did the same, and Harry shot into the air, leaving behind both of his friends.

The keys did not veer away from the three kids as they approached the flock, but it was hard to navigate through the fluttering metal objects and look for a specific kind of key at the same time.

Finally, after a few minutes of searching, Hermione spotted something, "Guys, there's a key over here that has a bent wing! It's pretty big, and it looks like it's silver! It might be the right one!" Harry and Ron looked to where Hermione was pointing, and sure enough, a large, silvery key, with a battered wing hindering a healthy one, was struggling to stay airborne a few feet away. Harry immediately took off after it, and Ron followed close behind, in case the key took an odd turn in midair.

Despite being hindered by a crippled wing, the key was still extremely agile, and Harry had to struggle to keep it in his sights through the cloud of other keys in the room's upper area. Finally, Ron came from below as Harry was chasing it downward, and the agile Seeker veered to avoid hitting his friend while plucking the elusive key out of the air.

"Good job, mate!" Ron cried exuberantly, "Wood and McGonagall would have loved that!" As they reached the ground, the redheaded boy got off of his broomstick to come over and thump his best friend on the back.

"Lest you forget, McGonagall would probably have us expelled if she knew what we were doing, _Ronald_," Hermione hissed as she slowly descended, shakily getting off of her least favorite type of transportation.

"Relax, Hermione. If we save the Stone there'll be nothing to get in trouble over, since we would have been right the whole time," Ron retorted as he and Harry passed by her on the way to try the key in the door. When she finally composed herself enough to be able to walk steadily again, the boys had already opened the door and released the key back into the air, with a matching pair of battered wings.

The corridor to the next room was short, but the light from the previous room did not flood in, so it was pitch black. The moment the three kids felt the tight corridor give way to a larger room, light exploded in front of them. When their eyes became accustomed to the sudden burst of light, they took in the new challenge.

"If we weren't on a mission to save the Wizarding world, this would be bloody amazing..." Ron murmured, quickly adding, "Well, not to say that it isn't anyways..." The three were standing on the edge of a larger than life chessboard, complete with eight and nine foot high chess pieces.

**(The next part will be mostly the same as SS because I'd like to have a chess match that is somewhat reliable and realistic, instead of an attempt by me to make up one that comes out with the same result)**

"It is pretty amazing..." Hermione admitted, "I bet Professor McGonagall set this up."

"Yeah, I'm not even sure my dad could do this," Harry added, in awe of the towering game pieces.

Ron walked over to a black knight, reaching out to stroke the rear leg of the knight's horse. Unsurprisingly, as did real Wizarding chessmen, the horse and rider came to life. The horse let out a loud neigh, and the knight turned around to face Ron.

Seeing no other way to get around the room except through the white side of the board, Ron asked, "Do we have to play with you to continue?" The knight observed Ron for a few moments before nodding.

The redhead turned around and walked back over to his friends, who were giving the large chessmen questioning looks. "Well, I think we have to play across to keep going." He pointed to the other side of the room, where a door was visible in between the white king and queen. He screwed up his face in concentration and muttered, "I need to think about this for a minute..." He began pacing, obviously deep in thought. Hermione made to say something, but Harry gently put his hand over her mouth and shook his head.

A few minutes later, Ron stopping his planning and walked over to his friends, saying, "Okay, here's what we'll do. Harry, you take the place of the bishop next to the queen, and Hermione, you take over for the castle next to Harry." He glanced over and saw that the castle and bishop that he indicated had already begun to move off of the board to stand on the side.

"What are you going to be?" Harry asked when his best friend didn't immediately offer what he was going to be.

Ron was silent for a few moments before speaking, "I'll be a knight." The knight that he had interacted with earlier nodded once again, and his horse galloped off of the board to stand next to the bishop and castle.

Harry and Hermione silently went to stand in their positions, as did Ron a few seconds later. "White goes first in chess...yeah, there's a pawn that moved," Ron murmured, pointing to a white pawn that advanced two spaces forward.

The game moved both extremely fast and excruciatingly slow. Black pieces were being destroyed left and right, especially by the ruthless white queen. Harry and Hermione, not having nearly as much aptitude at chess as Ron, were only barely saved by their redheaded friend's superior chess skills. Ron himself moved around the board a lot, taking many white pieces down as he went.

Eventually, black was poised to checkmate the king. Unfortunately, a sacrifice had to be made, and that sacrifice was...

"Ron! You can't sacrifice yourself!" Hermione cried hysterically from a few squares away, "There has to be another way!"

"No, Hermione!" he yelled forcefully, stopping his friend's tirade, "There isn't another way! This is chess. In order to win, sacrifices have to be made, and that means that the queen has to take me. Then, Harry can checkmate their king."

"No, there HAS to be another way! Harry, say something!" When the bushy haired witch turned to her other friend, she received no response. Harry was giving his friend an intense look, and the young Potter finally nodded his approval of his best friend's decision, but not without a sad look downwards at his feet.

Hermione made one last plea, "Ron, please, don't..." but he stopped her before she could get started.

"Hermione, if I don't do this, Snape will get the Stone, and all of this will have been for nothing," he muttered, looking frustrated. Without waiting for a response, he made his move. The white queen immediately swung her arm in a low arc and clipped Ron on the head, knocking him out and tossing him a few squares over in a limp pile.

"NO! RON!" Hermione screamed, making a move to help her friend.

"Hermione! Stop!" Harry snapped, freezing her in her tracks, "I still haven't moved yet!" The look in her eyes made Harry take his turn quickly, moving three squares to the left. The white king, growling in disgust, threw his crown to the ground in anger. Ignoring the white pieces moving aside to reveal the door, the two friends ran over to Ron.

Hermione felt his pulse and breathed a sigh of relief. "His pulse is fine, but should I stay here with him?"

Harry looked torn between hurrying after the Stone and staying with her to look after his best friend, but he said, "I think he'll be alright. If we hurry, we can get back here soon." He scrambled to his feet and ran off towards the newly exposed door. Hermione looked at his retreating back and, with one last worried look at Ron's unconscious form, got up and followed him.

The next room was, once again, not far from the previous one, evident from the stench that the two kids could smell as soon as they opened the door. "Urgh, I wish I could thank whoever put a spell on the door so you couldn't smell that until after it was opened," Harry groaned, pulling up his robes to cover his nose.

The next room was the size of a classroom, with a slightly taller ceiling. Lying in the center of the room was an unconscious troll, with a large bump on its head. Hermione let out a squeak as soon as she saw it, hiding behind Harry.

"Thank Merlin we don't have to deal with one of those..." Hermione whispered faintly. Her companion could easily understand why because of their rather traumatic run in with one earlier on in the year.

Harry and Hermione quickly got out of the room with the troll and moved on down a narrow corridor. Only a few yards down the hallway was another room. As soon as the two kids crossed the threshold, however, purple flames blocked their way out, while black flames blocked the door that led on to the Stone. Without anywhere to go, the two kids examined the small room that they were trapped in. There was a small table set against the right-hand wall with seven bottles, of different contents and sizes, held within a rack. A scroll lay open next to the bottle rack, and Hermione immediately walked over and began to read it. Harry came over and stood behind her to read it as well.

"_Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,  
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,  
One among us seven will let you move ahead,  
Another will transport the drinker back instead,  
Two among our number hold only nettle wine,  
Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.  
Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,  
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:  
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide  
You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;  
Second, different are those who stand at either end,  
But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;  
Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,  
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;  
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right  
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight." _

**(Taken from HP & tSS)**

"I'll let you handle this..." Harry muttered, not finding the idea of poison that entertaining. Hermione nodded grimly and turned her full attention to the paper, scanning it intently. While she tried to decipher the riddle, her friend examined the bottles. Despite the variety in color, contents, and bottle size, he could find nothing remarkable about any one bottle, so he turned back to his friend and waited for her to come to a conclusion.

A few minutes later, Hermione set down the scroll, wiped away some sweat on her forehead, and turned to Harry with a triumphant smile on her face. "I think I've figured it out," she said tiredly, "The smallest bottle will take us to the Stone, and that bottle over there," she pointed to the far right bottle, "will take us back into the castle."

Harry picked up the bottle that would take the two of them through the black flames to where Snape was and grimaced. "There's no way that there's enough in here for the both of us, Hermione. You need to drink the other and go back to help Ron." Before she could object, he waved her off and continued, "No, I can handle this. Ron needs some help, and when he's alright, you two can grab some of those brooms where the keys were and fly up and past Fluffy to the Owlery. You can contact Professor Dumbledore with Hedwig."

Hermione didn't respond; she instead trembled for a moment before wrapping her arms around Harry as tight as possible. Surprised by her actions, Harry spluttered, "Hermione, what the heck?"

Instead of answering him, she said with a rueful grin, "Please be careful. I don't need both of my best friends in the hospital wing."

"I'll be fine," he replied, "You go ahead and go first." Hermione didn't immediately pick up the larger bottle to drink, but a prod from her friend made her pick it up and gulp down its contents. She immediately shivered, and Harry worriedly asked, "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she hastily replied, to dispel any thoughts of poison on either of their minds, "It's just...icy cold. I'll see you later, Harry. Please be safe." With one last wave, she stepped through the purple flames with no consequence.

Feeling slightly better after seeing his friend come through for them again, Harry took the tiny bottle and drank its contents, feeling the coldness seize his body for a moment as the liquid went down his throat.

"It's now or never..." he muttered before taking a step into the black flames. Interestingly enough, the flames were pleasantly warm to the touch.

On the other side of the flames, which disappeared as soon as Harry passed through them, there was a dead end. Steps led down to a small platform, where the Mirror of Erised stood as the lone piece of décor. Standing in front of the mirror was a man Harry knew all too well, and it wasn't Severus Snape.

"Hello, Harry," Professor Quirrell said calmly and stutter-free as he turned around to face the surprised youth. "Surprised to see me?"

"Wh-What are you doing here?" Harry spluttered, falling backwards onto his rear, "Where's Snape?"

"Oh, yes, he would seem like the type, wouldn't he?" Quirrell mused, turning to start pacing in front of the mirror, "He's always hanging over people like the overgrown bat that he is. No one would ever suspect p-poor, st-stuttering P-P-Professor Quirrell? Severus certainly makes an excellent scapegoat in that matter."

Harry couldn't believe what he was seeing, all the way down to Quirrell's calm and composed smile. "B-But Snape tried to kill me!" he stammered.

"No, I did, you dolt. And if Miss Granger hadn't caused Snape to bump into me when she lit his robes on fire, I would have succeeded. You would have already been dead if Snape hadn't been trying to save you with a countercurse."

Harry was shocked yet again. "Sn-Snape was trying...to save me?"

"You ask too many questions, Potter," Quirrell growled, "But, yes, he was. That was why he refereed the next match, though it was covered up by the fact that he hated Gryffindor, and he certainly backed that up." He stopped pacing right in front of the mirror and looked at Harry, scowling in disgust. He snapped his fingers, and long ropes wound around Harry's body unhindered, effectively tying him up. "Now stay still, Potter, and let me figure out how this mirror works."

Harry was too shocked to do anything initially, but when Quirrell turned around to look at the mirror again, he began to struggle against his bonds.

"Interesting object, this mirror..." Quirrell murmured, walking around the mirror, "Dumbledore would be the type to have something like this in his possession."

The only thing Harry could think to do was to stall until another plan came to mind, so he blurted out, "You're wrong about Snape. Why the bloody hell would he bother to save me? He HATES me!"

Quirrell stopped in front of the mirror again and glanced at Harry, looking slightly annoyed, "You bring up a good point, Potter, but it's rather easy to wrap your mind around once you know it. He and your father were at Hogwarts together, you know. They hated each other with a passion, so I guess it...just carried on to you. Now be quiet. I need to find the Stone for us before Dumbledore gets back."

Harry began to struggle against his bonds, but something Quirrell said caught his attention. "What do you mean, 'us?'" he asked frantically.

Quirrell came to an abrupt halt this time, and Harry could sense a quick pang of fear flit off of him. "My master needs the Stone. Unicorn blood works for a time, but it is not a permanent solution. The Stone will strengthen him and will give him a body of his own, instead of being forced to borrow my unworthy self." He was now right in front of the mirror again, and he began to get angry, shouting, "Is the Stone inside the mirror? Do I have to break it to get it?"

An idea suddenly came to Harry at the same moment. If he could look at the mirror, he could find out where the Stone was, since his greatest desire at that very moment was to get the Stone and get it away from Quirrell.

Meanwhile, Quirrell was growing increasingly more frustrated, and he finally exclaimed, "Master, please! I need your help!"

The only other person in the room was Harry, and he thought Quirrell was going insane until a voice came from the back of Quirrell's head, "Use the boy..." Quirrell immediately snapped to attention and whirled around to face Harry again. He snapped his fingers, and the ropes surrounding Harry fell limp, allowing the youth to get up.

"Come here and tell me what you see," Quirrell snarled. Harry slowly got up and walked over to stand next to the traitorous teacher.

A mantra of 'I've got to lie, or else I'm dead...' pounded throughout Harry's head, but he still looked in the mirror out of sheer curiosity. He saw himself, looking rather carefree, in the same clothes as he was currently wearing. His mirror self reached into his pocket, pulled out a red stone, and held it up, winking as he let the real version observe it. After a few seconds, the mirror version put the stone back into his pocket, and the real Harry felt a heavy weight suddenly appear in his pocket. By some magical turn of events, Harry had managed to get the Stone, and Quirrell was none the wiser...yet.

"Well, do you see anything?" the DADA teacher asked, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Um...well...I see myself...and Dumbledore's there, too...he's presenting me with the Quidditch Cup..." Harry stammered. He tried to use a convincing voice, but obviously it was not good enough.

"He lies..." the mysterious voice boomed again. Quirrell glared at the young boy with pure hatred.

"Tell the truth, Potter! What do you see?" he bellowed.

However, before he could do anything else, the voice interjected again, "Let me speak to him..."

Quirrell immediately looked deathly afraid and responded, "No, Master, I can handle this. You aren't strong enough yet."

"I am strong enough for this...let me speak to him..." Quirrell didn't try to object again and instead began to unwind his turban, which Harry found extremely odd.

It soon became painfully obvious, though, because as soon as the last wrap fell away, Quirrell turned around so the back of his head faced Harry...or at least, what should have been the back of his head. Instead, there was a face, the most gruesome the young boy had ever seen. It was as white as snow, the eyes were two red slits, and the nose was almost nonexistent.

"Harry Potter...finally, we meet...face-to-face..." it gasped. Harry was frozen in terror, and it took the opportunity to speak again, "This is what I've been reduced to...because of you...all I can do is move from body to body...as a mere fragment of soul...Quirrell has been most faithful...he has provided me with unicorn blood to keep me alive...as soon as I get the Elixir of Life...I will have my body once again...now...be a good boy...and give me that stone in your pocket!"

Warning bells went off in Harry's head as he realized that Voldemort had known the whole time, and he attempted to run back towards the potions room. However, flames popped up around the perimeter of the room, and Quirrell was fast approaching.

"Seize him!" Voldemort shrieked, and Quirrell obeyed, lunging at Harry. He grasped the boy's hands, and pain immediately seared throughout Harry's scar, the worst he had ever felt. Oddly enough, Quirrell let go of Harry, giving the boy a reprieve in the pain, and the Potter youth saw that the teacher's hands were beginning to blister and crumble. Voldemort kept shouting, "Seize him!" and Quirrell continued to blindly comply. Whenever he touched Harry, Harry's scar seared with pain, but Quirrell could not touch Harry without immense pain and loss of fingers, arms, or whatever else touched him. However, Quirrell continued to try, and the pain from Harry's scar grew to the point where he could not take it any longer, and he passed out from exhaustion.

...xXx...

Well, I hope that you enjoyed the double chapter release! Keep up the reviews!


	9. Book 1: Home Sweet Home

Disclaimer: I do not own _Harry Potter_ or anything related to J.K. Rowling's works except for my own original characters and storylines.

...xXx...Chapter 9 – Home Sweet Home...xXx...

Harry groggily opened his eyes and immediately squinted at the sudden exposure to light. He quickly shut his eyes for a few moments and then reopened them slowly so they could grow accustomed to the light.

Once he could safely see again, he took a glance around at his surroundings, and he realized that he was in the Hospital Wing. 'That's a relief...at least I'm not under the castle with Quirrelll any more...' he thought. Trying to move his extremities, he discovered that his body felt like it had not moved on its own in a pretty good while. He tried moving his head, which was hard due to his stiff neck but still possible, and saw no one on one side of the bed, but there was a hazy white and black figure on the other side of the bed.

"Ah, sorry, my dear boy. Let me get your glasses," the figure said in a kind voice. Harry heard him pick up something from the table, and he felt his glasses being put on his face soon after. Once his eyes refocused, he looked over and saw the tall figure of Albus Dumbledore peering down at him with his twinkling eyes.

"How are you doing, Harry? Are you feeling alright?" he asked kindly. Harry pushed himself up on his elbows and propped his back up on the bed's backboard. He saw a multitude of sweets on the bedside table, near where Dumbledore was sitting.

"I think so. What happened down there, Professor? Is the Stone safe?" he asked worriedly.

Dumbledore smiled at him proudly, "Yes, the Stone is fine, and we have you to thank for that." He patted a pocket in his robes to show where the Stone was, and Harry exhaled in relief. "You did the impossible, Harry. You faced Voldemort again and survived. However...I cannot say that Professor Quirrell ended up as well as you did, though." Harry remembered that final struggle and looked down at the bed linens in shame. Dumbledore quickly saw that and added, "Don't feel down on yourself, Harry. What happened to Professor Quirrell is much better than what would have happened if Voldemort would have remained in his body and obtained the Stone. You did the right thing, and you shouldn't feel bad about it."

"It doesn't mean that I won't feel bad about it. He was still a human, and I killed him," Harry muttered, gripping the covers tightly.

"No, no, you freed him from Voldemort's evil grasp. That is no fault of yours. You did him a favor, though it may not seem that way," he replied softly.

Harry was silent for a minute or so, processing everything he had just heard. He then said, "Professor, why did Professor Quirrell crumble up like that when I touched him?"

"Ah, yes, I noticed...um...what was left of him when I arrived. I think it was a new type of spell your mother had created just for this very purpose during the time you and your family were in hiding," Dumbledore murmured, "Put simply, it was the love of a mother that stopped Voldemort right in his tracks. Do not take this the wrong way, my boy, but I think your mother had intended for the magic to only work if she died protecting you. Luckily, it still worked when she stood between Voldemort and her two children. Mistakes in calculations can turn out to be handy, as long as one doesn't make a habit of it." His companion nodded thoughtfully.

"So does that mean Crissy has the same protection?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore thought for a moment. "I would believe so, but I'd rather not test the theory out or have that scenario play out. We'll just assume the protection is there and will be used for the good when it is appropriate." He paused for a second and continued, "Speaking of your mother, I was going to allow your parents to be here when you woke up. Lily in particular was threatening me with a few choice curses, but James decided it would be for the best if they just stopped in to make sure you were okay and then met you at King's Cross next week. I think he was just trying to save you from embarrassment. They were also in France for a European Auror Conference, and James couldn't get away easily."

Harry nodded silently, though he did blush a little bit at his mother's actions, reaching for some of the sweets on the table. "Who left these here, Professor?" he asked curiously.

Dumbledore looked surprised when he said, "Why, your family and friends, of course. Since your father wouldn't let her come in, it seems that your mother got everyone she knows to send you a little something for when you woke up. Quite impressive, if you don't mind me saying." He gestured at some Every Flavor Beans. "May I? I've always been partial to them, even though my luck could be better with them." Harry nodded, and Dumbledore took one out of the container and bit down on it, immediately grimacing. He still managed to find the good in the situation and smiled as he said, "Earwax!" Harry laughed for a few moments.

Dumbledore got up, but not before grabbing a few more beans, and walked to the door, popping one into his mouth. Harry thought of something quickly and said, "Um, Professor?"

The tall Headmaster stopped and turned around, a benign smile on his face. "Yes?"

Harry struggled to find the right words to phrase his question. "Is Ron okay? He got hurt pretty badly by the...um, queen on that giant chess board that Professor McGonagall created."

His elder laughed happily, "Yes, yes, Mr. Weasley is just fine. In fact, I heard that he played that game of chess like a master of the game. If it were not for the circumstances, I would have given him House points for the game."

Harry smiled happily, "Well, he manages to beat me every time."

Dumbledore chuckled and opened the door to the Hospital Wing. "Don't worry about your friend. He had a few bumps on the head, but he's already walking around. Madam Pomfrey fixed him up as soon as Miss Granger brought him in. Anyways, you'll be able to see your family when you head for home next week. James told me he wouldn't miss out on meeting you at the station," he said before shutting the door behind him.

...xXx...Next Morning, June 8...xXx...

"Well, you seem like you're just fine, so I think you can leave. Just don't overexert yourself or use too much magic," Madam Pomfrey said assertively as he fussed over Harry's wounds, waving her wand over him for a diagnostic check. Finding nothing wrong, she added dryly, "Please don't come in here as much as your father and his friends did. I was just out of Healer School back then, and they about drove me to quit with how often they were in here."

"I'll try," Harry replied as honestly as possible, though he knew that there would probably be a few more trips to visit the Healer before he left the magical school.

"Well, get out of here," she said sternly, "The feast should be starting just about now, and I don't think you want to miss it. I know how teenage boys are when they're hungry."

"Okay, thanks for all of your help, Madam Pomfrey!" he said thankfully, pulling himself off of the bed. The kindly Healer waved it off and held the door open as Harry ran out with his things in hand.

...xXx...

Ron and Hermione were sitting next to each other a few seats away from the rest of their House at the Gryffindor table, quietly nibbling on some food. No one was sitting next to them, since Gryffindor was in dead last place for the House Cup, and they were part of the cause of it.

Neville entered the Great Hall and walked down the aisle between the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables, ignoring Malfoy and his goons taunting him. He quickly glanced at the main crowd of Gryffindors and at Ron and Hermione and made for the two kids sitting by themselves after receiving some hostile glares from the main group. He sat down and grabbed a muffin, not saying a word.

"Is Harry supposed to be getting out of the Hospital Wing today?" Ron asked, avoiding looking at Neville next to him.

Hermione chanced a glance towards the table at the front of the Hall, where Professor McGonagall was giving the small Gryffindor group a disappointing glare, her lips pursed tightly together. "I think so. He was still sleeping this morning, but Madam Pomfrey told me he would be well enough to come to this."

"I think, for his own safety, he should stay there. McGonagall's stare is enough to kill with a glance, and I'm getting a little tired of everyone glaring at us…" Ron muttered. He looked out of the corner of his eyes and saw the doors to the Great Hall open. Harry slipped in, bandages still visible underneath his robes. He, like Neville before him, walked to where Ron and Hermione were sitting and gave Malfoy a pitying glance when the blonde Slytherin began to heckle him before sitting down with Hermione.

Ron lightened up a little, grabbing some more food, and he said, "Hey, mate. How are you doing?"

Harry shrugged and replied, "After all I had to go through, I think I feel pretty good." He tried to inconspicuously look at Ron and Hermione to see if they were still feeling any pain, but he failed miserably.

"We're fine, Harry, don't worry about us," Hermione said comfortingly.

Ron nodded as well, "I have a hard head. I wasn't going to let some enchanted chess set that McGonagall created make me lose my winning streak." Harry smirked, thinking of the perfect person to do just that.

As he was gnawing on some eggs, he felt an invisible force boring into the side of his head, and he looked at the Head Table only to see McGonagall's glare. He quickly looked away and asked, "What's her deal? Is she mad at us or something?"

Ron looked at her for a moment and said, "I think she's mad that Snape's winning the House Cup." He gestured to the decorations, which were all colored silver and green. "Everyone's blaming it on us," he nodded to the three with him, "since we got caught after that deal with Norbert." Harry grimaced and went back to his eggs. Neville remained silent and continued to eat his food.

A few minutes later, Dumbledore stood up from his meal, and the many conversations in the Great Hall dimmed until there was complete silence, and everyone's attention was on the headmaster. "Well, we have come to the end of another great year at Hogwarts. It has been truly wonderful, and I hope to see everyone except our fine graduates back here for another fantastic year of learning and adventures." He gave Harry a discreet wink and reached behind his chair. With a little effort, he placed the large House Cup he grabbed onto the table in front of him. "Now, before we go, I need to present the House Cup to somebody, and it seems that Slytherin has the most House points with 472." Harry, Ron, and Hermione cringed, since Gryffindor was in dead last with 312.

Snape smirked and began to stand up to accept the cup, but Dumbledore surprised everyone when he waved his hand and motioned for him to sit down before continuing, "However, I believe there are some other points to give out before we award the cup." He looked at Ron first and said, "First of all, fifty points to Ron Weasley for the best game of chess I think anyone in this school's history has ever played." Ron's ears immediately flushed pink, and he suddenly had a renewed interest in his food.

Dumbledore next looked at Hermione and said, "Fifty points to Hermione Granger for her use of logic in the face of danger." Hermione looked away and flushed, but she still had a proud smile on her face.

Next, the Headmaster set his gaze on Harry. "Sixty points to Harry Potter for nerves of steel and unparalleled courage which is befitting of a true Gryffindor." As the Gryffindors suddenly regained their spirit and began cheering loudly, Harry didn't grow embarrassed, but he was shocked that Dumbledore would give them points for what they had done, considering that they had broken multiple rules, something Hermione had made sure they knew. He ignored Ron's excited whispers about Gryffindor being tied with Slytherin and watched to see what Dumbledore would do next.

The elder Headmaster waited until the excited cheers toned down before speaking once again. "And finally, ten points to Neville Longbottom, for the extraordinary task of standing up to his peers for what he believed to be right." Neville looked shell shocked as the entire Gryffindor table exploded in cheers, and he was attacked by multiple happy members of his House. Dumbledore subtly snapped his fingers, and the decorations overhead switched colors to the red and gold of Gryffindor.

...xXx...June 20...xXx...

"Hurry up, Harry! Sooner we get off the train, the sooner we get our mums' good cooking!" Ron said excitedly, practically leaping off the train as it was still moving. His trunk, whose handle was grasped in the lanky redhead's hand, crashed onto the platform behind him. Harry, who was near the door as well, shook his head in embarrassment. He heard two simultaneous noises. One was Hermione behind him huffing in annoyance, and the other was Mrs. Weasley nearby on the platform screeching at Ron for jumping off of the train while it was still moving.

As soon as the slowly moving train stopped, Harry and Hermione exited as well, dragging their trunks behind them. The twins, who were right behind them, darted to the side and began a conversation with Sirius Black, who waved at Harry quickly before conversing quietly with his captive audience. Luckily, he wasn't near his wife, Lily, or Molly, or he would have been in for a world of hurt.

The others were waiting at the back of the crowd, near the barrier. James was the obvious one of the group, leaning casually against the solid part of the barrier and wearing the dark blue robes of the Aurors. Harry released a breath he didn't know he was holding, thankful that there wouldn't be any reporters there to terrorize him. Lily stood near him, dressed in normal, Muggle clothing. She was holding the hand of her daughter, who was shooting glares at the only Black child standing with his mother nearby. She would have looked threatening, if not for the barely noticeable blush on her face. Harry took note of that for later use. Molly and Ginny Weasley were standing near them, Ginny also holding her mother's hand. The redheaded parents were now chatting with Lizzie after Mrs. Weasley had sufficiently vented her anger at Ron for jumping off of the moving train. Hermione's parents were nearby, still a little hesitant about the whole magical world they were thrust into, and thus they were remaining by themselves for the moment.

Harry and Hermione began walking over to the small group at the back of the crowd, trying to stay inconspicuous. Percy stayed behind to help anyone that was still on the train. Catherine spied the two of them first and immediately broke away from her mother to run towards her brother. Harry managed to let go of his trunk and braced himself before his sister launched herself into his arms.

"Hey, hey, hey, I'm still a little sore here, sis!" Harry said with a grimace. Catherine immediately let go of him but didn't move away; instead, she started poking at him until she got a reaction out of Harry in the form of a grunt of pain.

"Catherine Potter, quit irritating your brother," Lily reprimanded as she walked over to join them. Harry poked his sister back quickly before his mom could really see them well. Lily stood behind her daughter and smiled at Hermione. "You must be Hermione. Harry's said a lot about you in his letters." Hermione flushed slightly.

"Yeah, she's just as smart as you are, Mum!" Harry added, making Hermione's cheeks redden more. Lily frowned slightly at her son, and he just sent her a cheeky grin back.

"Um, thank you, Mrs. Potter, but honestly, I'm not _that_ smart..." Hermione mumbled.

Ron, who had walked over and heard most of the conversation, leaned down so his head was level with Hermione's and said, "For such a stickler for rules, why the lies?" Hermione tried stepping on his foot, but he just moved his foot and continued, "Seriously, you're the smartest witch I bet anyone's seen for the past few years. Don't be so modest." Harry chuckled at the look on Hermione's face when what Ron had said sunk in completely.

Lily hid her own smile and said, "Okay, boys, I think you've embarrassed Hermione enough. You can do that later on if she gets a chance to visit during the summer." Hermione mumbled her thanks, her smile hidden by her lowered head.

Catherine, after being nudged by her mother, said, "It was nice to meet you, Hermione."

Hermione smiled at the young redhead and replied, "It was nice to meet you, too, Catherine."

Harry's little sister smiled impishly and said, "My friends call me Crissy, Hermione."

The bushy haired girl laughed and said, "I'll remember that." She spotted her parents, who were trying to keep up with Mr. Weasley's barrage of questions, presumably about anything Muggle he was curious about. Apparently, he remembered seeing Hermione with them at Christmas, and now he was milking the opportunity to speak with them as much as possible. Waving goodbye to her friends, Hermione dragged her things over to her parents to try to save them from the kindly onslaught of questions Mr. Weasley was sending at them.

Harry turned back to his mother and asked, "Were you serious about Hermione visiting over the summer, Mum?" Ron tried to look uninterested, but he leaned in closer.

"Well, I don't see why not, but you'll have to ask your father first so he can adjust the wards accordingly, and Hermione will need to ask her parents in case they don't want their daughter hanging out with two teenage troublemakers." She glared at them jokingly, and Harry and Ron shared a good laugh.

"Yeah, she needs to hang out with me and Ginny. We behave ourselves, unlike you two," Crissy added, earning a glare from her brother and his friend.

James walked over, followed by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Lizzie, Romulus, and Ginny. Sirius remained with the twins, discussing who knows what, and Percy was walking behind his parents, still keeping an eye out for any errant first years needing assistance. "You ready to go, son?" the elder Potter asked, grabbing the handle of Harry's trunk.

Harry pretended to think for a moment and asked of his mother, "Will I get some of your cooking, Mum?" Lily smiled and nodded yes. "Then let's go!" He and Ron ran for the barrier, stopping only briefly to let Hermione and her family out first. Hermione gave both boys a quick hug before disappearing through the barrier. Her parents, understandably still skeptical about magic in general, slid through hesitantly a few seconds later. The others slowly made their way to the barrier as well.

As he watched the boys pass through the barrier, James leaned over to his wife and whispered playfully, "Those boys will do anything for food." Lily swatted just as playfully at him.

"If I recall, so do you. I also recall that they don't want you to drive again while they're in the car with you, so hand over the car keys," she said authoritatively. James looked at her pleadingly, but she stayed strong, holding her hand out. Realizing he couldn't win, he dug out the keys and laid them in Lily's hand.

Sirius, who just happened to be walking by, coughed, which suspiciously sounded like "_Whipped!_" James glared at his back as he walked through the barrier, and Lily giggled as she laid her free hand on James' arm, leading him through the barrier as well.

...xXx...After Dinner, Potter Mansion...xXx...

"Harry, could you please come into my study when you are done with the dishes? Your mother and I would like to talk with you," James said as he and Lily got up from the table, "Catherine, go to your room and stay there until we send Harry up to tell you it's okay." Catherine exchanged a sympathetic look with her brother, who all of the sudden looked like he was about to throw up. Whenever either of them got called into James' study, it was never for a good thing.

The youngest Potter quickly got up, put her dishes in the sink, and scampered upstairs, despite her desire to eavesdrop. James and Lily followed suit but instead walked towards a hallway leading to James' dreaded study. Harry slowly got up and walked over to the sink to begin his chores. Since he was underaged, it would take five times longer than it would for his mother to do it, but he knew it was part of his punishment. He briefly considered getting his wand and doing it on his own, but he quickly shot that idea down, partially because he would be in even more trouble and partially because his wand was currently locked up in the study to which he was preparing to go. James had told both him and Catherine that they would not be allowed to use their wands unless it was to practice homework, and even then they were to be supervised by James or Lily.

A few minutes later, he finished putting the dishes away in the cupboard and began the long walk to his father's study. In reality, it was only a few feet down the hall, but to a terrified Harry, it seemed like a couple of miles.

He reached the study, slowly pushed the door open, and walked in, shutting the door behind him and taking the empty seat near the door. His father was in the chair by his desk, looking both stern and sad. His mother was in the other chair in the room, facing so Harry was to her right.

"Well, Harry, I assume you know why you're here?" James stated, as more of a confirmation than a question. Harry nodded silently. "Well, first of all, let me make one thing clear. For the most part, we are not angry with you." That shocked Harry, and his head shot up in obvious confusion.

"Harry, your father and I are very proud of you, Ron, and Hermione," Lily murmured, unshed tears forming around the edges of her eyes, "You knew about something amiss, you obtained as much information about it as possible, and you tried to do something about it." Harry's heart began bursting with pride, but his parents weren't finished.

"However, it was not a good call on your part to run off underground with just yourself and your two friends without trying to find a teacher. Even Professor Dumbledore admitted he would have had a little trouble with all of the traps that had been set up," James added, his Auror voice taking over, "Never do such a thing, ever again, if you can help it. When we found out what had happened to you..." His voice trailed off, and he turned away so Harry couldn't see his face. Lily got up and walked over to Harry, wrapping her arms around his neck into a mother-sized hug. She began to openly cry, and Harry couldn't do anything except pat her back awkwardly.

"Um, Dad? I did try to get some help..." Harry said around his sobbing mother. Lily immediately stopped crying, and James got up and briskly walked to Harry's seat, putting his hands on his son's shoulders.

"What did you say?" he asked fiercely, his eyes boring into his son's.

"I tried to tell Professor McGonagall what the situation was, but she didn't act like she believed me," he replied nervously.

James just looked furious and walked back to his desk, throwing himself back into his chair. Lily got up, wiped her eyes dry, and walked over to her husband's desk, pushing his chair aside with a surprising amount of force. She snatched a quill, ink well, and parchment from James' desk and began writing furiously. Harry, who was more than a little confused, asked, "Um, Mum...who're you writing to?"

"Your Head of House!" she snapped back, and Harry decided to be quiet, since he knew how his mother could get when she was angry.

...xXx...

A few minutes later, Harry was upstairs walking to his room for the night. A door just one room away from his own room opened up as he passed by, and someone "pssed" from the crack. Harry looked behind him, and not seeing anyone coming, he walked into the room. His sister was sitting cross-legged on her bed, surrounded in the room by various Teen Witch products and posters of her favorite Wizarding bands.

"So, are you grounded for the rest of your life or did Mum and Dad let you off easy?" Catherine asked bluntly. Harry sat down in the chair by her desk.

"Well, I didn't get off completely scotch free. I'm grounded for the next two weeks, and I can't invite anyone over or go to visit anyone. I can write, though, so I will have some human contact, but I'm probably going to be working on homework for two weeks straight." He thought for a moment while Catherine half-heartedly played with a toy Hungarian Horntail James had given her a few Christmases back. "Dad said some stuff about what he thought about what I did, and Mum really was torn up about it. I didn't think she'd be so upset, to be honest..." he said quietly, twirling a quill he had found around in his hands absentmindedly, "It was pretty funny when she began writing a Howler to McGonagall about not listening to me. That probably saved me from getting grounded for a month. She was so angry."

After a few seconds, he noticed that his sister wasn't saying anything in response, and he looked at her. She was looking down so her face was hidden from view by the hair falling down in front of her. "Hey, something wrong, Crissy?" he asked curiously.

She did not give him a verbal response but instead crawled off of her bed and walked over to Harry, wrapping her arms around and joining them on top of his chest, her hair falling over onto his head and shoulders. To his surprise, he felt warm drops seeping through his shirt.

Gently, Harry pulled his sister's arms away from him for a moment so he could get up and face her. Then, he rewrapped her arms around his waist and let her release the pent up emotions she had.

...xXx...Two Weeks Later, Early July...xXx...

Harry sighed as he took yet another break from the tedious Potions essay that was part of his summer work. Since James laid down the law and grounded him for the first two weeks of his summer, the only entertainment he had had were the things around the house that he was still allowed to use (that list did not include his Nimbus, much to his chagrin) and his homework, which he was nearly done with due to the lack of other things to do.

He got up and left his room, heading downstairs to grab a bite to eat. He hadn't eaten much for breakfast, and he didn't eat any lunch since he, as much as it pained him to think about it, unintentionally was completely engrossed in his summer work. Gnawing on some Pumpkin Pasties he found in the cupboard, he went back upstairs and tried to continue working on his Potions essay, but he couldn't. Besides it being completely boring, he also had something on his mind.

Since the beginning of his grounding, the only real salvation from his schoolwork and the increasingly fewer things to do around the house were letters from his friends. Hermione would send him a lengthy letter every few days, and Harry could use up a lot of time rereading it and finding things he missed the first time because Hermione was such a thorough writer. Ron would send one whenever he was able to because his punishment was slightly worse than what Harry had received. He had never received any from Ginny, and the letters from Ron stopped after only a few, which Harry chalked up to Mrs. Weasley's chores piling up.

However, when Hermione's letters stopped coming on their usual days, he began to wonder if something was amiss. Ginny would come over to visit Catherine and vice versa pretty often, but he wasn't able to talk with her since he was confined to his room. He often watched them playing whenever the two were at Potter Mansion. They would zoom around on broomsticks from the broomshed, Ginny usually grabbing Harry's broom before Catherine could get to it. It was rather annoying to see them out there having loads of fun.

Harry sat back in his chair and murmured, "Why would they stop writing to me? Unless they think I'm..." he trailed off, leaving the thought unfinished.

A small 'POP' in the corner of his room broke him out of his reverie, and he looked to that corner to see a thin house elf, covered only in a sack. It was holding a large stack of letters tied with a string, and its watery, tennis ball-sized eyes looked at Harry almost pleadingly. In a squeaky voice, it asked, "Is these the letters Harry Potter is looking for?"

Harry stared at the house elf, which was obviously mistreated and malnourished, wondering how it managed to get past the extensive wards set up around Potter Manor. The first things out of his mouth were, "Who are you?"

The house elf immediately teared up and whimpered, "Ooh, Harry Potter cares for a lowly house elf like Dobby. Dobby is so honored, but he regrets what he is about to do..."

"What are you about to do?" Harry asked, now thoroughly confused.

"Ooh, Dobby wishes that he did not have to break bad news to Harry Potter, but Dobby has to for Harry Potter's sake..." the house elf whispered, still dabbing at his eyes with his tea towel. When he finally calmed down enough, he continued, "You cannot go back to Hogwarts, Harry Potter, sir. Bad things are going to happen this year, and Dobby is here to warn Harry Potter not to go!"

Harry stared at the tiny elf, making sure to keep the suspiciously familiar stack of letters in the elf's hands in sight. He noticed a glaring inconsistency in the elf's story and asked, "Um, Dobby, where did you get that information from? That seems like a far-fetched claim, if you ask me."

Dobby shook a little bit before running to Harry's bedside table and grabbing the lamp that he began to smash against his head while screaming, "Bad Dobby! Bad! Bad!" Harry stared in morbid interest until he realized the noise would attract too much attention, so he quickly ran over, snatched the lamp out of Dobby's hands and put it back. He then grabbed Dobby and clamped a hand over his mouth before he could attract any more unwanted attention.

Predictably, just a few seconds later, there was a knock at his door, and the voice of Harry's mother came through the door, asking, "Harry, is everything alright in there?"

"Yeah, Mum, I just knocked over my bed table!" he quickly replied, making sure to keep the rowdy house elf quiet. While trying to keep Dobby under control, he took note that the package of letters that Dobby had previously held were now lying on the ground, most likely dropped in Dobby's haste to smash the lamp against his head.

"Okay," she replied. Harry breathed a quiet sigh of relief that turned to a gasp of surprise when his mother continued a few seconds later, "Just a few more hours, Harry, and then you're home free. You know we did this because we love you, right?"

"Yeah, Mum, trust me, I've been counting down!" Harry shouted back, trying not to sound too strained, since Dobby was beginning to fight Harry's grasp. He kept his ears peeled and heard Lily walk away from the door, so he let Dobby's body free but still kept a hand clamped tightly on his mouth.

"Okay, I'll let you explain if you promise not to make too much noise, okay?" Harry whispered, a threat evident on the edge of his voice. Dobby nodded furiously, and Harry slowly let his hand off of the house elf's mouth. However, the little elf ignored Harry's request and immediately began to spout out more nonsense.

"Harry Potter cannot return to Hogwarts! A great evil is brewing, and Harry Potter cannot risk getting injured! Harry Potter may not think that Dobby is telling the truth, but Dobby is only trying to help Harry Potter!" After finishing, the house elf fell backwards and began to breathe heavily, allowing Harry to try to let all of the information sink in.

"Dobby, there's no way I can't go back to Hogwarts. Asides from my mum dragging me there by my ear if she had to, I have friends there and Quidditch to play," he argued back, adding under his breath a few seconds later, "And I guess I need to learn something, too." He made his way to his desk, subtly kicking the stack of letters under his desk while Dobby was turned away, still trying to catch his breath from the sudden outburst.

"Friends, Harry Potter?" Dobby asked cunningly, still facing the other way, "Does Harry Potter mean the friends who don't even write to him?"

'I knew it...' Harry thought exasperatedly. No one could miss Ron's chicken scratch handwriting if it was only a yard away. He bent down and picked up the letters just as Dobby turned back around to face him. "Okay, Dobby, since I have the letters now, you can't really use that against me anymore." Dobby's eyes widened as he realized that he didn't have the letters, and he glared at the package in Harry's hand. "Now, would it be too much trouble for us to sit down and talk about this?"

Once again, Dobby's eyes grew moist with tears, and he squeaked, "Harry Potter is most noble for even considering an unworthy house elf like Dobby an _equal_! Dobby can see why people admire Harry Potter so!" Harry rolled his eyes and pulled out his chair, grabbed Dobby, and sat him down on it, while he went and sat on the bed and glared at the hyper elf, who began to yap again, "Dobby knows that Harry Potter has already beaten He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named once, and Dobby has heard of another time just a few weeks before now. Dobby is most impressed by Harry Potter and his wondrous deeds. Unfortunately, a dark plot is being hatched at Hogwarts, and Harry Potter's life is in great danger if he goes back! That is why Dobby is here!"

Harry was about to question the source of the information, but more footsteps in the hallway shut him up. "I'll be careful, okay? You need to get out of here before my parents find you in here!" he hissed.

"Beware, Harry Potter. Bad things will happen if you return!" Dobby said ominously before snapping his fingers and disappearing with a pop.

A few seconds later, the door opened, and his little sister stuck her head into the room. "Having fun up here?" she asked with a hint of mischief in her voice.

Harry collapsed on his back, staring at the ceiling. "More than you know..."

"Well, Mum just told me you can come out now. Apparently you're getting out on 'good behavior,' but I know she's just feeling nice today because Dad got her that new movie she wanted," Crissy said, looking annoyed.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Get out of my room before I sic Hedwig on you," he muttered back. Hedwig gave her best imitation of a threatening hoot from her cage by the window. Crissy stuck her tongue out at her brother and finally left, closing the door behind her.

...xXx...

Harry's twelfth birthday arrived quickly, and it was thankfully uneventful, for the most part. The day started off by Harry being woken up in a loud and annoying fashion by his sister once again. Harry sadly began to believe that this was beginning to be a birthday tradition. After he kicked Crissy out of the room, he got a shower and got dressed and headed downstairs, where he was treated to a grand breakfast that his mother made just for the occasion.

An hour or two after breakfast, the Weasley and Black families, along with Remus Lupin, showed up at Potter Mansion. As was the tradition with any big occasion and/or celebration, a Quidditch game was struck up in the back yard. Teams were split up as so: Arthur as Keeper; Ginny, Bill, and James as Chasers; Fred and George as Beaters; and Harry as Seeker versus Ron as Keeper; Catherine, Molly, and Sirius as Chasers; Remus and Romulus as Beaters; and Charlie as Seeker. It was an intense match, and it ended after two hours of intense fighting from both sides when Harry snatched the Snitch right out from Charlie Weasley's nose. Harry was extremely proud to have done so because of Charlie's reputation as Gryffindor's Seeker a few years prior. It was also entertaining to watch Sirius fly circles around the twins, both of which who had been on the same team and Sirius on the other. After the match was long done, Sirius told Harry that he had bet the two of them that if they couldn't hit him once with a Bludger the whole match, then they would have to both walk up to a girl they both liked who lived in Ottery St. Catchpole and tell her, at the same time, that they liked her, with Sirius as a witness. Of course, the ever-thinking Marauder confided in Harry that he was planning on borrowing Lily's camcorder to record the whole event, which Harry found highly amusing.

After an impressive spread for lunch, provided by the mothers of the three families, everybody spread out around the grounds. James, Sirius, Remus, and the twins went off to who knows where to chat about who knows what. The mothers chatted in the kitchen over a cup of coffee and some biscuits. The two elder Weasley boys went outside to chat with their father. Harry, Ron, Ginny, Crissy, and Romulus headed off to the family room to the family room to play some games, including breaking in the new SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System) that James and Lily had given him as an early birthday present. Ron particularly enjoyed playing Sim City and Super Mario World, which were also included in the present. Unfortunately, Harry had to drag Ron away from the system so Crissy wouldn't kill him for not letting her and Ginny have a turn. Harry found it highly amusing that Ginny was able to beat her brother a few times, causing Ron to be pretty angry. Unfortunately, Romulus had the chance to play Crissy a few times, winning every time and making her pretty angry as well. Percy, who was sitting in a chair nearby, just gave them annoying glances every once in awhile whenever they cheered rather loudly.

The night ended in dinner, another grand spread made by the three female parents, and the customary present sharing. Harry received lots of candy from Romulus Ron, Hermione, Romulus, Ginny, the twins, and his sister. Arthur and Molly gave him some comfy homemade clothes; Remus got him a practice Snitch that had multiple settings, including random vanishing and teleporting; and the Blacks gave him some very unique clothes that Sirius found while on a mission in Australia, which were very fun to try on. Percy gave him a very nice eagle feather quill, Bill got him a diary that never ran out of pages, and Charlie got him a book on dragons that was mandatory reading for people working at the dragon reserve with a note inside about making sure to read the chapter on British Regulations on Magical Creatures.

As the partygoers started to leave, Ron turned to Harry as his family was Flooing back to the Burrow and said, "Heck of a party, eh?"

"Yeah, the best yet," Harry replied, "It kinda sucks that your birthday is during the school year, or else we could do this for you." He waved to Ginny, who was just about to Floo away (she turned pink yet again), missing the tips of Ron's ears turning pink.

"Well, I'm not a real party type, you know..." Ron muttered, "I'd rather have just a normal party at school with all of you guys..." The word 'normal' stuck with Harry, and the unsettling conversation he had had with Dobby the house elf came to mind.

"I'd give anything for normal right about now..." Harry murmured.

Ron, who was about ready to leave, turned around and asked, "You say something, mate?"

Harry shook his head clear of the conversation and replied, "No, nothing at all..." Ron shrugged and waved before disappearing in a flash of green flame.

...xXx...

(Now, some of you might have noticed that, whether I've laid any clues or not, that a certain Black child has a Halloween birthday. What follows is a little flashback to help explain a few events of the next chapter that might have diehard fans scratching their heads. I should have put this in there, but I'll put it in here so I won't be getting reviewers questioning my knowledge of the Harry Potter world.)

...xXx...After the Quidditch Match in Chapter 8...xXx...

After Sirius and his son departed the Quidditch pitch, they met back up with Catherine and Ginny near the Hogwarts gate. Catherine gave Romulus a steady glare as he walked towards them with his father. Ginny, noticing that, quickly asked, "So, are we heading home now, Mr. Black? If so, could we go to Diagon Alley for lunch?"

Sirius grinned but shook his head. "First of all, that's Sirius to you. None of this Mr. Black stuff; I'm not old enough for that. Second of all, I'm sorry, Ginny, but I need to talk to Professor Dumbledore. I promise that I'll take you guys out another time, though." Both girls looked at little downhearted, but they nodded grudgingly. The man present looked at his watch and said, "Okay, let's head up to the castle. Girls, you can use Professor Dumbledore's Floo to get home. Let's go!" He began a brisk pace up towards the castle, and the three children ran to catch up to him.

Sirius, being the only one of the group knowing how to get through the castle, navigated them up through the hallways and up the staircases and eventually ended their journey at a large stone gargoyle. "Wow...that's cool..." Romulus muttered, looking in slight awe at the large statue.

"Oh, give me a break. That thing is so ugly!" Catherine snapped back, sticking her tongue out at him.

Ginny rolled her eyes and got ready for an argument, but luckily it never came. Romulus looked ready to snap back a retort, but Sirius said forcefully, "Stop it, you two." That and the fact that he was pulling something from his pocket was enough to shut the two combatants up, while Ginny shook her head and thanked Merlin that she was spared from one of their petty arguments.

Sirius unintentionally faked the two kids out because he pulled a letter from out of his coat pocket. He opened it up and read part of it before folding it back up and putting it back into his pocket. He looked directly at the gargoyle and said, "Chocolate Frogs." Before any of the kids could question the rationale behind that, the gargoyle jumped aside to reveal an upward spiraling staircase. "C'mon, guys, we're almost there." He walked over and got onto one of the steps, quickly rising upward. The kids didn't want to miss out on the fun, so they followed suit, Catherine making sure to have Ginny in between her and Sirius' son.

The staircase stopped at a platform that had a door situated on it, and as Sirius went to knock on the door, it opened, revealing the batlike, greasy haired form of Severus Snape. The Potions Master's eyes widened in surprise, and he growled, "Black..." bumping past Sirius in haste and getting onto the now downward spiraling staircase.

"Good to see you, too, Snivellus!" Sirius shouted cheerfully at his back. All three children shared a good chuckle as they entered the Headmaster's office for their first time ever behind Sirius. Dumbledore smiled benignly at them as they entered his vision.

"Miss Weasley, Miss Potter, and Mr. and Mr. Black, it is an honor to meet and see you again," he said, getting up. Sirius walked over and shook his hand.

"It's good to see you again, Professor," Sirius replied, "I have a favor to ask of you, if you don't mind me asking."

"Of course not," the Headmaster said.

"Well, I was wondering if Catherine and Ginny could use the Floo to get home, and then we could start our meeting. Lizzie should be coming by soon," Sirius explained.

"That's fine. I have no issues with that," Dumbledore replied, already walking over to the fire. He picked up an ornate clay pot filled with sparkling green powder.

Catherine and Ginny nervously walked over to the fire, and Catherine mumbled, "Thank you, Professor Dumbledore. We really appreciate it."

"It's no problem," Dumbledore replied kindly. Catherine took some powder and tossed it into the fire, shouting, "Potter Mansion!" She stepped into the roaring green flames and disappeared with a flash.

Ginny did the same, except she turned around and said, "Thank you for taking us to the match, Mr. Black!" before disappearing into the flames, missing Sirius playfully shouting, "That's Sirius!"

No sooner had the flames reverted back to orange and red wisps did they turn right back to an emerald blaze, and Lizzie Black stepped into the room, brushing herself clean of soot before pulling her wand out and waving it at the carpet, completely cleaning up after herself.

"Impeccable as always, Mrs. Black. It's a pleasure to see you," Dumbledore greeted his new guest.

"I have to be, Professor," Lizzie said, poking her husband in the shoulder, "With him around, you have to keep cleaning up not to live in a pigsty." Sirius pretended to look hurt while Dumbledore and Lizzie shared a laugh. Romulus tried to avoid paying attention to his embarrassing parents.

"Thanks a lot, Lizzie, but I think we're here to talk about something different than that," Sirius pouted.

Dumbledore walked back over to his desk and sat down, waving his wand and Conjuring up three chintz armchairs for the Blacks. The Black family walked over and sat down, and Sirius got right into the discussion, "As I said in my letter, Professor, I was just curious about the selection of students for each first year class at Hogwarts. I admit my reasons are a bit selfish, but Romulus has expressed concern about being alone when entering Hogwarts. I was just wondering if there was any way for him to come to Hogwarts next year."

Dumbledore looked thoughtful, his hands propping up his head. After a moment, he spoke, "Normally, I would say that there's no way for Romulus to come a year early, but I did a little exploration into the Book of Prospective Students and found something interesting."

"The Book of Prospective Students? What is that?" Lizzie asked curiously.

"The Book of Prospective Students contains the names of all prospective students of Hogwarts, from the minute they breathe the air of the real world to the minute they come here. When I went to take a look at Romulus' name, I couldn't find it immediately." Sirius and Lizzie began to panic and started to babble a little bit, but Dumbledore held up his hand and continued once they stopped talking, "I was able to find him, but he was with next year's students. That book cannot be changed once a name is inserted into it, and no names can be inserted or removed except due to death. Honestly, I have no way to explain it, but it seems your request has been fulfilled all along."

The Black family was simply stunned, but Sirius recovered first and got up, his family following close behind. "Thank you so much, Professor. I don't know how to repay you."

Dumbledore got up as well and walked around his desk to shake hands with the male Black. "Though I know it's useless to ask, could I possibly beg you not to let your son become a prankster like you?"

Sirius barked a few times in laughter, "I can try, Professor, I can try. Thank you for all of your help."

Dumbledore picked up the clay jar once again and held it out to the family as they came to join him by the fireplace, "It was my pleasure." He watched as they disappeared one by one into the flames and went right back to work as soon as they were gone.

...xXx...

AN: Keep up the reviews, everyone! I love them! Sorry that it's a little shorter than the others, but I hope you still enjoy it! If any of you are wondering what the hell I'm talking about with the Book of Prospective Students, I do believe that that is a real thing.


	10. Book 2: A Warning for the Second of 7

AN: Even though it might be a bit early, this chapter is dedicated to good friend of mine who has a birthday coming up. Hope it's a great one, LJ!

Disclaimer: I do not own _Harry Potter_ or anything related to J.K. Rowling's works except for my own original characters and storylines.

...xXx...Chapter 10 – A Warning for the Second of Seven...xXx...

...xXx...August 12...xXx...

Since Crissy and Ginny's birthdays were so close together, the Potter and Weasley families usually held a double birthday party on the lone day between them. Being their first year as well, both families, decided to go to Diagon Alley together to get the students' school supplies and the first years' wands and then have a party at the Burrow for the girls. Because they also had a first year, the Blacks came with them. They had split up into two groups, the first and second years minus Romulus, Arthur, and Molly to find books, and James, Lily, the Blacks, and the elder children to find the other supplies. Unfortunately, no one had counted on Gilderoy Lockhart, the Wizarding World's newest boy toy, running an autograph session at Flourish and Blotts. That left Harry to literally crawl through the store until he was in the clear.

"For the last time, Crissy, quit bouncing around! It's really starting to annoy me!" Harry grumbled as he tried to look at the latest issue of _Quidditch Weekly_, "It's noisy enough in here as it is, with Lockhart over there signing books."

"You're just afraid the reporters will see you," Crissy retorted, "I can bounce around if I want to! It's my birthday, and I want to see Lockhart! He's so..."

"Loony?" Harry supplied with a smirk, "You've got that right. Besides, it isn't technically your birthday until tomorrow." A smack on his arm announced the arrival of Ginny. Crissy grinned impishly at her best friend.

"No, dreamy, you prat! And it's close enough, so quit bothering us or I **will** call the reporters over here!" she hissed. Harry rolled his eyes but began to walk over to where Ron was looking at a book on the Chudley Cannons, just in case.

Unfortunately, the shelves that Ron was looking at were across the aisle from where Harry was, which was in plain sight of Gilderoy Lockhart. Harry did not realize this and kept walking, exiting the row of shelves he was in and walking into the aisle. He didn't notice the whole store come to a complete halt, nor did he notice the complete lack of noise at the same time.

"Oh my...is that...it is!" Harry froze and slowly turned his head towards the voice. A golden blonde head of hair and blindingly white teeth was pushing through the crowd.

"Harry Potter! It is an honor, truly!" the booming voice of Gilderoy Lockhart echoed throughout the store, attracting the herd of reporters, who had previously been near the display Lockhart was at, over to the two 'celebrities.' Harry saw them and groaned, beginning to wish that his parents had not gone with Lizzie and Romulus to get some of their other supplies. Fortunately, he could see Arthur and Molly trying to push their way over to him, and Ron, Ginny, and Crissy were already by his side.

"Today is a great day, my good boy!" Lockhart exclaimed, throwing one arm around Harry that was immediately thrown off by the younger boy. The other arm shook Harry's hand, and Harry had to rip his hand out of Lockhart's grasp to get some feeling back into it. "It's not every day that I get to meet the Boy Who Lived!" Lockhart gushed, smiling at the flashing cameras. Ron looked about ready to puke, while Ginny and Crissy were both gazing at Lockhart in admiration, though Ginny's attention wasn't completely on Lockhart, who managed to plant his arm back around Harry's shoulders.

"When Harry Potter stepped into this fine bookstore, I know he had no idea what he was to earn and learn today," Lockhart boomed, "Not only will he get a signed copy of my autobiography, which he was coming to get anyways, but he will also receive a full set of my textbooks and the satisfaction of knowing that he and his classmates will be learning from the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts...yours truly!" Harry's jaw, along with the jaws of the males in the Potter, Weasley, and Black families (except maybe Percy's), dropped in horror, while the females were star struck and started cheering loudly.

Harry found the promised set of textbooks shoved into his hands, and he began to stagger through the crowds to try to get away from Lockhart and his blinding smile. Ron followed close behind, dragging his and Harry's sister away from the pretty boy celebrity. They finally found their families and friends near the entrance of the store, and they gladly joined them, standing next to Ginny, who was trying to discreetly get another look at Lockhart. He dumped the load of books given to him by Lockhart into her second hand cauldron, which she was clutching like a lifeline, and muttered, "You can have them. I can get my own later once that blowhard leaves..." He missed Ginny's look of surprise and admiration as he made his way to his father.

"Dad, can we come back later, when Lockhart isn't here? I'm feeling extremely uncomfortable right now..." Harry murmured to his father, who was glaring at the hordes of reporters.

"I was just thinking that myself," he replied grimly. Taking a moment to locate the rest of his family, he motioned them over and said, "Lily, Catherine, we're leaving." The two females nodded, Catherine a tad reluctantly, and turned to leave with the group. The parents and older siblings of the three families managed to push their way out of the shop, but the younger kids were blocked by a group of raving fangirls who had shoved their way into the shop to get a glimpse of Lockhart. They moved after they found a route to Lockhart, and the kids tried to leave again, only to be stopped by an arm connected to a head with pale blond hair and a familiar smirk.

"Potter, Potter, Potter...you just love to be in the limelight, don't you?" Draco Malfoy drawled as he stepped in front of the exit, "Can't even go into a bookstore without drawing everyone's attention, can you?" Harry could almost feel the heat radiating off of Ron next to him. He desperately hoped that his friend wouldn't cause a scene that attracted Lockhart, but he didn't. The one that did react, however, surprised him greatly.

"Sod off! He never asked to be famous, and you're just being a jerk!" Ginny shouted angrily, only to cover her mouth with a squeak of embarrassment, dropping the cauldron with a loud clang. Malfoy's smirk widened considerably.

"You have a girlfriend, Potter! I didn't know you were desperate enough to date a Weasley! She's a bit small, though, isn't she, Potter? " he cackled with glee while Ginny's face went beet red. Malfoy noticed Ron barely keeping control of himself and added, "Having issues, Weasley? Or are you trying to imagine not eating for a month so you can get your supplies?"

That was the last straw for Ron, and he lunged at Malfoy with a pent up snarl. Fortunately, Harry caught his fist, and Catherine managed to hold him back. Another savior also arrived in Arthur Weasley as he managed to push his way past Malfoy to get back into the store.

"Arthur, please get your son under control. We wouldn't want you to have to pay MLE a fine, would we?" The group turned towards the taller pale blond who stepped behind Malfoy, looking smug.

"Lucius..." Arthur nodded back stiffly.

"You look a bit tired, Arthur. Is all that overtime getting to you?" the elder Malfoy drawled as he picked up a book from Ginny's dropped cauldron, her battered and worncopy of _A Beginner's Guide to Tranfiguration._ "I guess they don't pay well for overtime at the Ministry any more...such a shame."

"We don't need money to be happy, Lucius. Other things are more important..." Arthur replied tensely.

"Yes, yes, of course, Arthur, how could I have forgotten? But my son has informed me that your son here associates with dirty Muggles, and we all know that won't make anyone happy..." He couldn't finish his sentence, as Arthur lost his restraint and slammed his fist into Malfoy's face. The kids stepped back and watched in awe, Harry and Ron even starting to cheer for Arthur, until a Shield Charm was cast in between the two of them.

"Lucius, you'd be wise not to start any more fights, or I'll have to press charges..." James Potter said calmly as he dismissed the shield he cast.

"Potter...well, I guess this little party has ended..." Malfoy spat. He threw Ginny's Tranfiguation book back into her cauldron and swept out of the store with his son in tow.

...xXx...September 1st, King's Cross...xXx...

"Oi, Harry, wait up!" The Potter and Black families turned around and saw the Weasley clan rushing towards them through the crowd, evidently just barely making it in the nick of time. Ron ran over to Harry, his trunk clattering behind him, and stopped to catch his breath.

"What took you lot so long?" Harry asked curiously, watching as the twins ran over to begin conversing with Lee Jordan and a couple of their other friends.

Ron saw Harry looking at them and shook his head, "It wasn't them...for once." Harry raised his eyebrow in question, "It was Ginny. While she was packing, she had a nervous breakdown and couldn't really do anything after that, if you get what I mean..."

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Ginny walking by with her mother. She did look miserable, and Molly was attempting to cheer her up, with not much success. Fortunately, Crissy ran up to them and started chatting animatedly with her best friend, which seemed to perk Ginny up a little bit. "Wow...do you know what happened to her?" he asked with a touch of concern.

"Not really, mate. The only thing I can think of is that she's nervous and doesn't want to leave the Burrow for such a long time. I think she's become so used to being with Mum and Dad without us for long periods of time, and now she's going to be without them. I can understand what she's going through," Ron replied. Harry didn't pursue the conversation further.

The families began to calmly and discreetly slip through the barrier that led to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. The Black family went first, and then the elder Weasley children, with Arthur, Molly, and Ginny following behind them. James, Lily, and Crissy went after them, and Ron and Harry were the only ones left.

"Well, you want to race?" Ron asked mischievously. Harry nodded with a grin plastered on his face. He readied his cart, as did Ron, and murmured, "Ready...set...go!" The two took off with a raucous start and approached the barrier. They were about to phase through the barrier when their carts hit something solid, and their belongings, as well as them, spilled everywhere in a loud crash.

The loud crashing noise created by the boys' carts impacting the now solid entrance to the platform immediately drew the attention of most of the people in the station. Predictably, they all stared at the two boys now lying on the ground along with their school things, and many began whispering to each other. Even a conductor briskly walked over and snapped irritably, "What are you DOING?! The train station is not a playground!"

Still on the ground, Harry replied, "Sorry, sir. We just lost control of our carts, that's all. They're really heavy..." Given the embarrassing experience he just went through, all he wanted was for the man to leave them alone. Unbeknownst to both kids, the man's eyes glazed over right before he walked away in a daze, muttering unintelligible things under his breath. Ironically, the people that were staring at the boys now began to look at the conductor, most of them wondering if he had a split personality.

"Bloody effing hell! Why is the barrier solid?" Ron hissed frantically. He jumped up and gave the wall an angry glare. Trying to let out his emotions on the wall, he drew his foot back and gave the barrier a solid kick. Unfortunately, the wall was also solid, so all Ron got was a sore foot and an even more enflamed temper.

While the gangly redhead was hopping around, clutching his foot and muttering obscenities, Harry got up and tried to calmly brush off his clothes. Seeing Hedwig hooting and flapping her wings frantically in her cage due to the rough treatment, he quietly let her nip his finger to reassure her. He heaved his cart back upright, set his owl's cage on top, and made sure everything was in place.

Once he was sufficiently satisfied of that, he walked over to help his friend, who was still limping around while trying to gather his own things together. He gestured for Ron to listen, and he whispered worriedly, "Let's just go wait by my dad's car. He'll be able to get us there. It's already past ten, so there's no reason to just stand around." Ron nodded grimly and grabbed his own cart.

A few people were still giving them some strange glances, so the two boys made a hasty departure from the station building and headed into the parking lot, with only a little trouble from their trunks. They walked through the main parking area without stopping, and soon the amount of cars slowly began to decline until there were more open spaces than cars. "Why did your parents have to park so far away again?" Ron asked grumpily, taking a stop for a breath. He bent down and put his hands on his knees for a moment.

Harry paused as well, giving Hedwig a treat to pacify her. "Well...probably the usual thing about the Statute and all..." Ron sent him a questioning look, and the young Potter understood immediately, "My dad decided to make a few magical modifications to the van. Mum would kill him if she knew half the stuff he and Uncle Sirius have done to the thing. He parks out here and says that he doesn't want anyone seeing him use magic on the trunks, but he really doesn't want any of the spells backfiring and causing MLE to come out here." Ron's back suddenly straightened as he stood back up in full, and a mischievous grin spread across his face, one that Harry had seen cross the faces of the twins many times before. Knowing he'd find out sooner or later what Ron had remembered, he asked, "What're you thinking?"

Ron leaned in close, like someone was really going to eavesdrop in the abandoned part of the parking lot they were in, and asked, "When was the last time you remember your dad and Mr. Black working on the van?"

Harry thought for a moment and said, "I think it was about a month ago. The only reason I know that is that I saw Uncle Sirius bragging about it to Uncle Remus a few days later."

His redhead friend put his finger to his chin and nodded. "Okay, that sounds about right. Around that time, I came downstairs to get a drink before bed, and Dad was in the den talking to someone on the Floo. I think it was a coworker because he was asking for advice. He was talking about putting some kind of button in 'the van' that made it fly. I think I heard him say it was a Muggle device that somehow connected to a Hover Charm that covered the whole car. I'm sure that he meant your family's van."

Harry's eyes widened. "Wait, your dad was in on it, too? Isn't that kind of a violation of his job?" he exclaimed before clamping a hand over his mouth as a car drove by and parked nearby.

Ron looked surprised, and he said slowly, "Oh, yeah...I guess it is...I never really thought about that...oh, well, what the Ministry doesn't know won't hurt them." Harry rolled his eyes, and his friend scowled at him. They stopped talking for a moment as the driver of the car, a stewardess, got out of her car and walked by them, yawning loudly. When she was out of hearing range, Ron continued in a low voice, "I think your dad's van can fly now."

Harry almost laughed, thinking of what Ron's twin brothers would think if he had been there to hear Ron say that. He could almost hear what they'd say.

"_Oh, George, it's a wonderful day for the Weasley family, is it not?"_

"_It is, indeed, Fred. Ronnikins finally caught on."_

"_We have an heir to our pranking legacy."_

"_Yeah, since Gin-Gin's too smart for her own good."_

"_Evil, that one is."_

"_She's one to watch out for."_

"_I'd hate to be the one that she dates."_

"_Ah, but that would be awkward, Fred."_

"_Right you are, George, right you are!"_

"_But, now we have fresh meat...I mean, a fresh mind to corrupt!"_

"_OH JOY!"_

However, the seriousness of the situation at hand prevented him from dwelling on those thoughts for too long. However, a snort did escape from his mouth that was quickly stifled by his hand over his mouth once again.

"That was interesting. Didn't expect you to tell me that..." he muttered, looking around to see if anyone was nearby.

"Didn't expect what?" Harry almost leapt in surprise, and Ron clamped a hand over his own mouth, looking behind his friend at the person who spoke. His eyes were as wide as saucers, as were Harry's.

"Well? What didn't you expect? Does it have anything to do with the barrier being sealed?" James asked, looking slightly confused. Lily stood besides him, and neither boy present liked the look on her face. She was looking angrier than Harry had ever seen her, with her arms crossed stiffly over her chest and her face set in a seemingly permanent scowl. Her face was steadily turning red to match her hair. Ron's parents were also present, standing behind Lily. Mrs. Weasley looked very similar to Harry's mother, and her husband was wearing a confused look on his face, similar to James' look.

"H-How do you know about that, Mr. Potter?" Ron blurted out dumbly. His friend's bemused expression showed his confusion as well. Both Lily and Mrs. Weasley looked like they were going to say something, but James luckily beat them to it, a sneaky grin on his face.

"Well, besides the fact that you just confirmed my suspicions..." Harry glared at his best friend, who had the decency to at least look sheepish, "...when we noticed that you didn't follow us, we naturally tried to find you two. You two weren't on the platform, and we couldn't get back out through the barrier to look, so we had to Apparate out of the station."

Harry and Ron exchanged a look before Harry asked a question he already knew the answer to, "Did the train already leave?"

Lily looked like she wanted to say something again, but her husband laid a hand on her arm and replied, "Yes, but that doesn't mean you two aren't going to Hogwarts." The two boys' faces lightened up briefly, but James wasn't done yet. "However, I think all four of us would like an explanation as to what you were planning to do. I think you'd rather Arthur and I ask than our wives, don't you think? If your mothers asked, no matter what you said, you'd be grounded for the rest of your life, and then some." The two boys didn't even need to take a look at the looks on their mothers' faces to realize that James had an excellent point.

Ron didn't seem to want to say something, which was understandable considering common knowledge about the Weasley temper. Harry mentally sighed and then tried to think of an explanation that would leave them with the least amount of punishment possible.

"Well...everyone except for us had gone through the barrier, including the four of you. We tried getting through and...um..." Harry thought for a moment, trying to find a good way to word what came next.

Lily waved her hand impatiently, urging her son to continue while saying, "And?" Luckily, Ron came to his friend's rescue.

"You see, Mrs. Potter, somehow the barrier sealed itself shut right after everyone else had already gone." Lily opened her mouth to spout out a retort, but Ron wasn't done yet, "We had already caused a pretty big mess by crashing into the barrier, and it was getting awkward standing there with everyone else watching us, so we decided to come and wait for you by Mr. Potter's car, since we knew you would come back here eventually."

James looked rather impressed, as did Arthur, but the two female redheads did not look as impressed as their husbands. However, the expressions of blind fury they had worn had cooled off to only slightly angry.

After a slightly awkward silence, Lily walked over and knelt down in front of her only son. "Let me get one thing straight with you, Harry. I'm sure Molly is wondering the same thing. You were not planning on using your father's van to get to Hogwarts, correct?"

Before Harry could answer, his father interrupted quickly, "Lily, how in the world would they be able to get to Hogwarts in a Muggle van? The bloody thing would blow up or something with all of the magic in the air." Harry had the distinct feeling that his father was afraid that the van's secret would come out, and he was trying to divert the subject.

"First of all, _dear_," Lily ground out, turning on her husband, "I personally put Muggle-Magic Compatibility Charms on the car so it wouldn't 'blow up,' as you so eloquently put it. Might I mention that I put a lot of effort into creating those charms just for wankers like you and Sirius who get a kick out of creating messes by mixing Muggle and Magical things! Second...they could have used the button with the built-in Hover Charm labeled 'HOVER CHARM' to fly to Hogwarts." Her husband tried to protest, but he was silenced by an abrupt hand in his face. "Don't even try it. I've known about your modifications for awhile now. I'll deal with you later, _sweetheart_," she snapped.

Molly looked shocked, but she quickly turned on her husband, who was intently listening to the conversation. He looked surprised when she started to shout at him as well, "If I find out that you had anything to do with this, you'll be sleeping in your beloved work shed for a week!" Arthur and James exchanged worried glances as their wives glared at them.

After watching James walk back over by Arthur, Lily turned back to her son and silently requested his response. Harry kept averting his eyes before settling them on the ground and mumbling, "No, we weren't..."

His mother's intense gaze burned into him as he waited for the inevitable eruption. Curiously, it never came, and he slowly drew his eyes back up to meet his mother's, who were still focused on him. However, they were not as angry as they had been. "Alright, Harry. I believe you and Ron, and I think Molly feels the same." She nodded towards the Weasleys, and Harry followed her gaze. Ron was still cringing from his mother's harsh stare, and Molly met Lily's eyes, finally nodding reluctantly after a few awkward seconds of silence.

"Okay, then, now that that's all cleared up; I think we need to get the boys to Hogwarts, don't we?" James said quickly, most likely trying to divert the conversation from any talk of the van.

Lily stood up and gave her husband a look that said 'We'll talk about this later' before replying stiffly, "Yes, I think that would be best. We can take them to the Leaky Cauldron and use their Floo connection to send the boys to Albus' office."

James cringed at from the look but said, "That's fine. We can..."

"We can take the Weasleys' Ford Anglia, if that's alright with them?" his wife interrupted. Molly nodded curtly and held her hand out for the car keys, which Arthur immediately gave to her without protest. Ron and Harry loaded their baggage into the rear end silently and got into the backseat between their fathers. Harry put Hedwig on the floor between his legs so she wouldn't get jostled around. Lily took the passenger seat in the front.

The drive over to the Leaky Cauldron was extremely uncomfortable, with Lily turning her head every few minutes to check in on the men, who were sitting stiffly in the backseat, not talking once on the trip. Molly also kept her eyes on them through the rear view mirror.

The Weasley matriarch pulled the car into a parking lot a block away from the Leaky Cauldron. She and Lily got out and began walking towards the Leaky Cauldron, Molly only stopping long enough to throw the keys at Arthur as he got out of the car. Harry swore that he heart Molly whisper to his mom, "I did a pretty good job for someone who has never driven before, don't you think?" Lily giggled a little bit.

As the two fathers helped to get the boys' trunks out of the rear end, James muttered, "I'm sorry about this, boys. What you were planning to do wasn't the best idea in the world, but we shouldn't have put the Hover Charm button in the car to begin with."

When Harry and Ron looked like they were about to protest, Arthur interrupted by saying, "Don't try it, Harry, Ron. You two grew up with Fred and George. The odds aren't in your favor." Harry looked down while the tips of Ron's ears burned red. "Come on. We'd better get going before our wives find another reason to be angry at us." Arthur took a hold of Ron's trunk, and James did the same for Harry's, while Harry held Hedwig's cage. They followed behind the two redheads, finally catching up with them as they entered the Wizarding pub.

"Tom, may we use your fireplace? The boys need to get to Hogwarts," Lily asked politely.

"Why sure, Mrs. Potter, but may I ask why they aren't on the Express? It left 45 minutes ago, I believe," the bald bartender commented, pulling out his pocket watch to confirm.

"There were some unforeseeable circumstances that prevented them from leaving. We're awfully sorry to impose on you, Tom," Arthur said quietly.

"It's quite alright. I'll believe anything these days," Tom replied good naturedly, "The Floo powder is on the hearth, like usual."

James said, "Thanks, Tom." He walked over and grabbed the pot of green powder. He tossed a bit into the flames and said clearly, "Headmaster's office, Hogwarts!" He knelt down and stuck his head into the fire, where he started talking with who Harry and Ron assumed was Professor Dumbledore.

A few minutes later, James pulled his head back out and turned to the boys. "You can go on ahead. Professor Dumbledore gave you the go ahead."

Lily went and knelt in front of Harry, similar to what she did thirty minutes earlier at King's Cross. "Harry, I expect a letter tonight explaining everything, but you aren't in trouble. I believe you," she wrapped her arms tightly around her son for at least a minute and gave him a kiss on his forehead. "I love you so much. Have a good year at school. Make sure you help out your sister if she needs it." She gave him another quick hug and stood up, wiping her eyes for a moment.

James gave his son a clap on the shoulder and said, "Don't get into too much trouble, son." However, the parental effect of that statement was offset by the wink the Potter father sent at his son.

Molly gave her son a long look before giving him a hug and kiss. "Try to say out of trouble, Ron. Your father and I love you. Be nice to Ginny, okay?" Ron nodded stiffly, still afraid of his mother's well known wrath. He relaxed when she gave him another hug, and his father gave him a one handed shoulder squeeze.

The two boys took some Floo powder and tossed it into the fireplace. Harry went first, yelling out, "Headmaster's office, Hogwarts!" He pushed his trunk into the flames before picking up Hedwig in her cage and stepping into the flames.

After spinning past what seemed like a million different fireplaces, he stumbled out of a fireplace into the office of Albus Dumbledore, who was sitting behind his desk, writing on a piece of parchment. He looked up with the familiar twinkle in his sky blue eyes as Harry placed a hand on his trunk to regain his balance.

"Hello, Mr. Potter. Welcome back to Hogwarts. I won't trouble you with asking about the barrier since your father already explained the situation to me," he said kindly, "Though I would advise you to get away from the fire. I wouldn't want Mr. Weasley to crash into you." Harry quickly moved away from the fire and pulled his trunk to the side. Seconds later, the fire blazed and turned green before spitting out a trunk and then Ron, who tripped and fell over his trunk. Professor Dumbledore abandoned his work and watched, obviously amused. Ron got up and began apologizing while brushing the soot off of his clothes.

"Excellent entrance, Mr. Weasley. I have the same troubles with the Floo, as well. Such an interesting and fickle way of travel," the Headmaster chuckled, "There's no need to apologize." Ron stopped cleaning himself and looked at his feet, his ears burning red again.

"Well, I think you two boys have had enough adventure for one day. If you'd like, you may take your trunks to your dormitories and get ready for the Sorting Feast. Be down in the Great Hall in about an hour to meet with the other returning students. The password to the Gryffindor common room is 'wattlebird.' See you at the feast!" Harry and Ron thanked Dumbledore and exited the office, awkwardly dragging their trunks behind them.

Luckily, they didn't run into anyone on the way to Gryffindor Tower except for a few errant house elves that were cleaning up the hallways. When they saw the boys, they squeaked things like, "Welcome back to Hogwarts, Mr. Wheezy!" and "We is most proud to be in your presence, Harry Potter sir!"

After the latest round of compliments on their way to the tower, Ron leaned over and asked, "How the heck do they know me? I mean, they know you because you're you and all..." Harry shot his friend an annoyed glare, but Ron continued like nothing happened, "...but how do they know me? Fred and George know how to get into the kitchens, but they've never taken me down there."

"They probably think you look like Fred and George, Ron. You are related to them," his friend replied tiredly. Ron's face was blank for a moment, but the light bulb went on, and he sheepishly followed behind his best friend.

When they reached the Fat Lady's portrait, she barely looked at them and asked, "Password?" Before the boys could give it to her, however, she did a double take and asked, "What are you two doing here so early?" She glared at them, tapping her foot on the painting's floor.

"Can we just say there was a mix-up with the Hogwarts Express and go from there?" Harry said weakly, "It's been a really long day. Wattlebird."

"Alright, dearies, just don't cause too much trouble," she replied, swinging open to allow them in. The boys lugged their trunks through the hole before dragging themselves in as well. The common room looked extremely odd with no one present, but the two boys weren't interested in anything except getting rid of the heavy trunks they had been hauling around what seemed like all of London. They took their trunks up to their new dorm room, which looked exactly the same as last year but moved up a level in the tower.

"I'm going to get a shower and put on my robes, and then I'll read a little. What're you going to do?" Harry asked as he pulled off his Muggle clothes and threw them on his bed. Ron began to do the same thing.

"I'll probably do the same. I think I have this week's _Quidditch Weekly_ in my trunk somewhere," the redhead replied. The two boys walked into the bathroom and took separate shower stalls.

30 minutes later, the two boys were lying on their beds, fully clothed in their Hogwarts robes. Ron was looking extremely bored with the magazine, so he threw it back into his open trunk and went digging around for something else to keep himself occupied. Harry knew what was coming, so he marked his place in the book and put it in the drawer in the bedside table. He opened his trunk and pulled out his Wizarding chessmen as soon as Ron came up with his, looking surprised at Harry's action.

"You honestly didn't think I'd know when you'd want to play chess, did you?" Harry said ruefully. Ron rubbed the back of his neck and mumbled something unintelligible. The Potter boy pulled out a board in his trunk and set up the pieces, and soon a raring game of chess began.

However, even though Harry put up more of a fight than usual, Ron quickly won the match in twenty minutes. "You're getting a little better, Harry, but I'm still the better one," he said cockily.

"Whatever. Let's get down to the Great Hall. It's getting close to time for everyone to arrive," Harry replied, packing away his chessmen and board. Ron's face lit up at the suggestion of food, and he also quickly packed away his chessmen and ran for the door, quickly disappearing around the corner. The Boy-Who-Lived shook his head in amazement and followed his friend, though not with as much gusto.

Harry reached the Great Hall at his own speed. The older students were starting to drift in from the entrance, and he walked in with the first wave. He went and sat down across from Ron at the Gryffindor table close to the Head Table. "Did you have to run down here? The first people just got here when I came down," he muttered.

Ron looked nonplussed but regained his composure as he turned his head to look at the people coming in. "I wanted to get good seats, alright?"

"The food's the same the whole way down the table, Ron..." his best friend pointed out. Ron's ears burned red but he didn't say anything in response as he continued to scan the crowds of kids walking in the door. His face immediately lit up when he saw a familiar bushy brown head of hair walk in, and he began to anxiously wave. Harry looked where he was waving and grinned as he saw Hermione Granger determinedly making her way towards them, a grim look on her face. Neville Longbottom was right behind her, though he didn't look grim at all; rather, he looked happy to see them.

Harry was about to greet his female best friend when she sat down next to Ron and snapped, "Where were you two?!"

Ron looked stunned, and Harry's grin faltered slightly as he said, "Nice to see you, too, Hermione."

"Hermione, can we please not talk about that right now? I'd just like to eat and watch our sisters get Sorted," Ron groaned. Hermione didn't look like she wanted to wait, but Harry intervened.

"We promise that we'll tell you about it later. We've had enough of telling people about the whole thing for one day," Harry added. Hermione looked back and forth between the two of them for a few moments before accepting the answer.

Neville sat down next to Ron on his other side and said, "Hey guys. Have a nice summer?"

"Thanks for asking, Neville!" Ron said sarcastically, glaring at Hermione, "Our summer was fantastic."

"Was yours good?" Harry asked.

Neville nodded happily, "Yeah, my gran was really happy about my exam results. They weren't as high as she was hoping, but she was impressed with my Charms and Herbology marks."

"That's great, Neville!" Harry said, giving the pudgy boy a pat on the back. Neville was embarrassed but still retained a small look of pride on his face.

Two red blurs came running towards the group. "Oi, Ronnikins!" the twins shouted as the two plopped down next to Harry.

"Where were you?" George asked.

"You know, George, I bet he was itching to try out that Hover Charm in Harry's dad's van," Fred stated.

"You know, Fred, I bet you're right!"

"He's a wonderful man indeed."

"He and Mr. Black both, excellent men indeed."

"You're forgetting about Lupin, George."

"Ah, how could I have forgotten, Fred?"

"Shame on you, George."

"Wait, how did you know about that?" Ron asked angrily, interrupting their tirade. The twins raised their hands in front of their faces defensively.

"You're not the only one who goes downstairs for snacks, Ronnikins," Fred stated.

"Us growing boys need our midnight snacks. That's why we make such good use of the kitchens here," George added.

As the twins began a new dialogue on the wonderfulness of the Hogwarts kitchens, Percy sat down next to Hermione. He made a point of adjusting his Prefect badge as he looked past Hermione and asked imperiously, "Ronald, may I ask why you weren't on the Express this afternoon?"

"No, you can't. We'll tell you later," his younger brother snapped back. Percy bristled and looked like he wanted to continue the conversation, but he thankfully didn't because someone at the Head Table clapped a utensil against a glass as the front doors opened up. Professor McGonagall walked in, followed by the crowd of small, anxious first years. Harry saw his sister proudly leading the crowd, her head held high, with Ginny right behind her in a similar fashion.

"Well, at least they aren't nervous," Harry quipped. Ron groaned and hid his head in his arms.

"Yeah, but they're glaring at us like they want to kill us. Stupid barrier..." he muttered through his arms. Indeed, as the group of first years walked by where Harry and Ron were sitting at the Gryffindor table, both redhead girls sent scathing looks at their brothers.

The group of first years crowded around the ends of the tables as the stool with the ancient Sorting Hat was brought out. It opened its mouth and sang its customary song, which as usual indirectly implied that the four Houses should unite and work together. After it was done, McGonagall pulled out a scroll with the names of the first years on it.

She began reading names off the list, and one of the first names on the list was "Black, Romulus." He was in the back of the crowd, and he calmly walked through the herd of first years and up to the stool, and sat down as McGonagall placed the talking hat on his head. The Sorting Hat immediately stood erect and muttered, "Bah. The son of Sirius Black is at Hogwarts now. We should all run in fear, never mind the fact that I have no legs. I can definitely sense him everywhere in you, though his courage and loyalty especially shine through. You deserve the same fate as him in...GRYFFINDOR!" The whole Gryffindor table burst into applause as Romulus stood up and walked to his table, sitting down next to Harry. Harry swore he could hear a few sighs from the first year girls as he walked by, but Sirius' son didn't seem to notice.

"Congrats, Romulus!" Harry said politely. Romulus smiled faintly in thanks and turned his grey eyes to the front, occasionally looking to where the only two redheads stood.

A few minutes later, Professor McGonagall called out "Potter, Catherine." A collective gasp sounded throughout the room, and many people turned to steal a quick glance at the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry, for all it was worth, tried to ignore the sudden attention that was aimed at him. His sister slowly walked up to the stool and sat down, nervously fiddling with her robes. The ancient hat didn't speak for a moment, but it then said, "Interesting. James Potter and Lily Evans had a second child. Thank Merlin there's more Evans in you than Potter, but I can definitely sense a mischievous streak inside you. However, you are fiercely loyal to your family and friends, and you seem to be very resilient when confronted with adversity, so you'll fit perfectly in...GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table once again burst into applause, the loudest yet due to the new Gryffindor being the sister of the Boy-Who-Lived. After the hat was taken off her head, Catherine practically skipped to her new House table, where she squeezed in between Romulus and her brother, wrapping her arms around him tightly. Harry gladly returned it, trying to be nice. That was short lived, as she quickly released him and glared at him angrily. Harry glanced at Ron out of the corner of his eye, but his best friend was making an effort of not looking at the Potter siblings.

"Where were you?" she hissed, slapping her brother on the arm.

"It's nice to see you, too, sis!" Harry snapped back, ignoring the claps as a boy joined Hufflepuff.

Catherine was preparing another retort when the twins leaned across the table so they could see her.

"Ah, Crissy, it's an honor for you two to be in our esteemed House," Fred sang joyously. Catherine blushed despite her anger.

"She and our wonderful sister will make the House of pranksters proud!" George added happily.

Both Hermione and Percy were about make a comment refuting that statement when McGonagall shouted out, "Weasley, Ginevra!" All of the Potters and Weasleys, plus Hermione and Neville, stopped talking and turned to watch Ginny slowly walk up to the stool and sit down, her legs shaking heavily but her expression one of confidence.

When the hat was placed on her head, it took a long time to say anything, longer than even her redheaded counterpart. It finally spoke up after thirty seconds of silence, "Another Weasley. You seem to be the last one, thank goodness. You're the first female one I've seen in generations." The hat went silent for a few more seconds before continuing, "Interesting. I've never seen a case like yours. So ambitious and fixated on one person; I've never seen such devotion and care at your age." Ginny squeaked and blushed deeply when the Sorting Hat said that, "I'm sorry, my dear, but I can only relay what's true for each individual person. I can tell you are very courageous and will fight to the end for what you believe in, but you love your family to the grave. You'll be perfect in...GRYFFINDOR!" The Gryffindor table again exploded in applause, especially near the front where her family and friends were located. Ginny jumped off the stool and half-walked, half-ran to sit next to her youngest brother, her face and ears still burning bright pink. Ron barely said congratulations to her, Catherine grinned widely at her, and Percy was about to formally congratulate her when Dumbledore thankfully stood up.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts, everyone!" he said grandly, "Before the feast begins, I'd like to make a few announcements. Older students, none of these should be of any surprise. First of all, the Forbidden Forest is forbidden to everyone, except for students accompanied by a teacher." As he did the year before, he sent a quick look at the Weasley twins, who grinned back at him, "Second, the list of forbidden items is on Mr. Filch's office door. His office is down the corridor across from here. The whole third floor is now open again, so you may now use it for whatever you see fit." He looked to his side at Professor McGonagall, who was now seated, and she nodded, so he looked back out at the students and said, "That is all. Tuck in!"

Ron immediately began to grab everything in sight and put it on his plate. Hermione looked disdainfully at Ron, like usual, and began to get herself a modest plate of food. Harry was about to begin to get a plate of food for himself when his sister put a hand over his plate and gave him a defiant look. "You aren't going to let me eat until I tell you, are you?" he groaned.

"Exactly!" she chirped, piling food onto her own plate with one hand while keeping her other hand on her brother's plate.

Harry sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get out of telling the story, so he decided not to do it alone. "Hey, Ron, I'm not going to be allowed to eat until I spill the beans about earlier, so could you help me out?" he asked. Ron glanced at his own plate of food and nodded, swallowing the large mass of food stuck in his throat. Harry took a large gulp and began the story, beginning with the barrier suddenly sealing shut to the ordeal in the parking lot to the roundabout trip to school, with Ron adding in bits when needed.

When Harry was done, he calmly lifted his sister's hand off of the plate and began to serve himself food. It wasn't hard to do, seeing as her mouth was wide open in shock, and her eyes were just as wide. Romulus, observant as always, took a large glob of mashed potatoes from his own plate onto his fork and shoved the utensil, with no resistance, into Catherine's mouth. Needless to say, she was not pleased, and she let him know that for the next five minutes.

Once everyone had eaten their fill, and dessert was just a passing memory, Dumbledore got up once again, and the Great Hall fell silent. "I won't keep you long. Have a good night, everyone!" he said, and all of the students immediately got up and made for the exit.

Harry and Ron got up and walked out with the twins, chatting with them. Romulus followed behind them at his own pace. Percy also got up, herding the first years together to direct them to Gryffindor Tower. Unfortunately, he forgot two of them in his haste to impress the first years, so Ginny and Catherine were left on their own with Hermione and Neville, who quickly scampered off to follow the other boys. Hermione huffed impatiently, "They would leave without helping out their SISTERS!" She shouted the last part in an effort to get the boys to listen, but they had already departed the Great Hall.

"Um, you're Hermione, aren't you?" Catherine asked uncertainly. Hermione spun around and wiped her face of any anger at her two friends, replacing her expression with a happy smile.

"Yes, and you're Harry's sister, right?" she asked. Catherine nodded happily. Hermione turned to Ginny and asked, "I don't think we've met. I'm Hermione Granger, one of Ron and Harry's friends." She scowled and added, "...for now..."

"I'm Ginny Weasley, the sister of those prats that just left..." Ginny growled.

"Well, they are a little scatterbrained. I'll get you two up to the tower since they won't," Hermione said, "Girls have to stick together, right?" Both redheads nodded fiercely, "Well, let's get going." Hermione led the two first year girls out of the Great Hall and into the main part of the castle, pointing out things like the locations of various classrooms and some useful passages that she had been dragged into by Harry and Ron.

When they reached the portrait hole, Hermione immediately began to panic. "I didn't get the password from anybody! What are we going to do? We'll _be out after curfew!_" she squeaked fearfully.

Luckily, the portrait of the Fat Lady swung outwards, and Percy walked out, presumably to do his rounds. He gave the three of them a curious look and said pompously, "Ginevra Weasley, where have you been? And Catherine, Hermione, I expected better of you!"

"Well, Percival," Ginny spat, "A certain prefect, whose job is to help the first years get to the tower, fell down on the job and forgot to do that and give the password to a returning student."

"Woo hoo, go Ginny!" Catherine added, clapping at her best friend's tirade at her brother.

"Well, Ginevra..." Percy began to say.

"Don't call me Ginevra," Ginny growled.

"...if you had gotten together with your fellow first year students, you wouldn't be in this situation," he finished, completely ignoring his sister.

"Percy, that is the most pitiful excuse I have ever heard. It is your responsibility as a prefect to make sure all of the first years get here safely," Hermione reminded him sternly.

Percy looked like he was going to say something, but he gained a scowl on his face and swept away without another word. Both younger girls stuck their tongues out at his retreating back.

"How rude," the Fat Lady said disdainfully, "leaving me wide open like this."

Catherine and Ginny quickly scampered through the hole, and Hermione followed behind them, apologizing to the portrait as she closed it behind her. Harry and Ron were lounging on a couch by the fire, and the twins occupied two chairs. Hermione was about to walk over and chew out her two best friends and the twins, but she didn't see the need because Catherine and Ginny immediately ran over and began to read all four of them their pedigrees for completely forgetting about them. Hermione walked by the scene and went up to her bedroom, chuckling at the insults that the two first year girls sent at their brothers' way.

...xXx...

AN: A little longer, as a treat for you, my loyal readers. Don't forget to review!


	11. Book 2: New Friends and a New Year

AN: I'm going to try out something new. A lot of this chapter will be from Catherine's POV. It's just an experiment, and I'd like some input as to what you all think of it. Hopefully it'll provide some due character development.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Harry Potter_ or anything related to J.K. Rowling's works except for my own original characters and storylines. The list of Lockhart's awards is from the book.

...xXx...Chapter 11 – New Friends and a New Year...xXx...

Catherine groggily opened her eyes, immediately wondering where she was. Instead of her customary wooden ceiling, all she saw was a dark red overhang. After a few seconds of recalling the previous night, she finally realized that she was in the first year girls' dorm in Gryffindor Tower. Raking one hand through her bed ravaged hair, she pulled the curtains of her four poster aside with the other. There were only three Gryffindor girls in their first year for the term, and she appeared to be the only one awake. She slipped into her slippers and walked to the front of her bed. Grabbing some undergarments and her bath accoutrements from her trunk, she shuffled sleepily into the attached bathroom to get ready for the day. Someone else came in while she was in the shower, but she departed the bathroom before Crissy was done with her own shower. She assumed it wasn't Ginny because her best friend wasn't one to get up very early.

Forty-five minutes later, she came back out, brushing through her damp hair and now fully alert and ready to go. She scanned the room's two other occupants, who were now awake. The curtains on Ginny's bed were wide open, and the bed's occupant was currently propped up on her bed, writing in what appeared to be a ragged diary. She looked up and waved as Crissy walked over to her bed. She tossed her bath things back into her trunk and put her used clothes in a hamper nearby. The clothes immediately disappeared as they were transported away to get cleaned.

The other girl in the room was sitting on the edge of her own bed, looking more than a little nervous. She looked to be Asian of descent. She had pure black eyes, was of short stature, and had black hair done up in two buns, with two tendrils framing her face. She was already in her Hogwarts robes, and she jumped in surprise when Crissy walked over, sat down next to her, and said, "I'm sorry we didn't introduce ourselves last night. We were...slightly occupied with other things." Ginny rolled her eyes, remembering their 'talk' with their brothers. "I'm Catherine, and the other redhead over there," Ginny waved, "is my best friend, Ginny." The pretty Asian girl began fiddling with her hands.

"Um...it's nice to meet you. I'm Lydia Nakamura..." she stammered, looking up at them through her long bangs shyly.

"Tell us about yourself," Ginny said, abandoning her diary and jumping up to join her best friend.

"Yeah, where are you from? What is your family like?" Catherine added.

"Um...well...I'm Japanese. My mother is British, but my dad is from Kyoto. He's a master of the Japanese style of magic, which is called ninjutsu," she mumbled, overcome by the attention she was suddenly receiving.

"Oh, that sounds really interesting!" Ginny said in amazement.

Crissy smiled proudly and said, "I've heard of that before. My dad's interacted with Japanese wizards before. He said their magic was really amazing."

Lydia looked over at her roommate in surprise and asked, "Really? Who is your dad?"

"He's the Head of the Auror Department of the British Ministry. His name is James Potter," she answered proudly. The young Asian girl's eyes grew wide.

"Potter? Th-that means..." her voice grew faint, "y-you're Harry Potter's sister!" Despite her surprised expression, her cheeks grew a light red in color. Unbeknownst to either other girl, the expression on Ginny's face changed from a genial look to one of slight anger at her new roommate.

"Yeah, I guess I am. He's a prat, though. Don't get too excited," Crissy muttered. Lydia didn't seem to register her statement, though, as the star struck expression remained in her eyes. Ginny rolled her eyes in an exaggerated fashion. Crissy waved her hand in front of the Asian girl's eyes and finally said, to get a response, "I'll introduce you to him if you'd like."

"Really?! That would be fantastic!" Lydia gasped. She jumped up and ran into the bathroom, murmuring, "I need to fix myself up if I'm going to meet Harry Potter!"

Watching her run out of the bedroom, Crissy looked at her best friend and said, "Well, I guess I'll get dressed, and then we can go find some breakfast."

"Sounds good," Ginny replied, "I'll go get my shower. I'll try to be quick." She got up and got her bath materials out of her trunk before exiting into the bathroom. Crissy could have sworn she heard Ginny say on the way in, "I've got to get ready, too." Shaking her head in amazement, Crissy pulled out her brand new Hogwarts robes, already magically changed to show her status as a Gryffindor, and began to get dressed.

Lydia came out about five minutes later, looking identical to the way she had looked when she had entered the bathroom. Crissy, who was nearly done getting dressed, noticed this and commented, "That was quick."

Lydia looked embarrassed, "Yeah, I forgot I didn't have any makeup. My mother told me she wouldn't let me have any until third year. It probably sounds silly..."

Crissy laughed it off, "Not at all. You have it good compared to me. My mum said I couldn't have makeup until fourth year at the earliest, and even that might be a stretch." Both girls shared a good laugh, and Crissy finished getting dressed.

A few minutes later, Ginny came out of the bathroom, tossing her stuff into her trunk. She looked a little nervous when she saw Lydia watching her, but she appeared to completely ignore the other two girls in the room. Crissy knew why, but she didn't say it out loud. Ginny, like all of the Weasleys, was a little self-conscious about her family's lack of wealth, but she got more upset over it since she was a girl, and she was not able to get many of the things that girls her age were usually able to get. To try to help her friend out, Crissy turned to Lydia and said, "So, tell me some more about the Japanese ninjutsu. I only know the bare essentials." Lydia's face immediately lit up, and she launched into a lecture about the various aspects of the Japanese style of magic. Unbeknownst to Crissy, Ginny sent her best friend a very grateful look as she pulled her secondhand robes out of her trunk and began to put them on.

A few minutes later, as Ginny finished getting her robes on and her wet hair in order, Lydia finished her energetic summary of ninjutsu, and Crissy now knew more than she ever needed to know about the Japanese style of magic. "Okay, I'm ready," Ginny said, unintentionally trying to smooth her ragged robes down so they looked decent.

"Okay, let's go get something to eat. I'm starving," Crissy muttered, clutching her stomach, which was growling something awful.

Ginny laughed at her friend's distress, "You should have been a Weasley. You're always hungry."

Crissy glared right back, "Well, excuse me. It's not my fault that I need to eat. I'm a blossoming young woman!" Lydia watched the exchange between friends with a mixture of apprehension and curiosity.

The youngest Weasley rolled her eyes, "Okay, okay. Let's get you down to the Great Hall before you wilt before our eyes." All three girls shared a good laugh before grabbing their bags and heading for the Great Hall.

After a few issues involving the staircases, the girls reached the Great Hall. Despite the hang ups on the way there, the group of three was still extremely early. There were only a few people up, including a few Ravenclaws, Professors McGonagall and Flitwick, and Romulus, who was all by himself at the Gryffindor table. Catherine immediately stopped when she noticed this and tried to turn around, but Ginny caught her by the arm and dragged her in. Lydia, not understanding what the problem was, scurried after the two redheads.

Romulus, who was munching on some toast and marmalade, looked up and smiled faintly as Ginny came marching up with Catherine caught tightly within her grasp. Ginny smiled and said, "Hello, Romulus. Did you have a good night?" She sat down next to Romulus, and Catherine, determinedly looking away, sat down on her other side. She immediately grabbed some toast and an apple and began to eat her toast furiously. Lydia, her nervousness setting in, sat down next to Catherine.

"I slept like a rock, if that's what you mean," Romulus replied with a chuckle, "Coote and Kirke aren't that bad, but Colin Creevey's a tad strange..."

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked curiously, picking up a bagel. Catherine continued to pretend not to listen, but she wasn't doing that well.

"He's obsessed with two things. He loves taking pictures of things, and he will not stop talking about Harry," Romulus groaned, "We finally just told him to shut up so we could get to sleep."

Ginny shook her head in amusement, "I know your dad always talks about how grumpy you get when you don't get enough sleep, but I didn't think you'd shout at someone you just met."

"You've never been around me if I don't get enough sleep, haven't you? My mom kind of forced me to get so many hours of sleep after she saw how cranky I got if I stayed up too late..." he muttered, "That probably sounds really lame..."

Catherine muttered, "Duh..." on Ginny's other side, but Ginny discreetly elbowed her and said, "Not at all. I'm the exact same way." Romulus smiled gratefully and went back to eating.

A few minutes later, after a few more people dribbled in and went to various tables, Harry and Ron entered the Great Hall, looking a little disheveled. Hermione was close behind, looking furious. The twins were not far behind, looking very near laughter. The four boys sat down opposite the first years, and Hermione sat down next to Romulus. "Honestly, you would think that you all would get up early on the first day of classes!" she huffed, grabbing a banana and biting into it furiously.

"Hermione..." Ron groaned, "We haven't even gotten our schedules...relax..." That was not the best thing to say, especially to the most studious person in their class.

"Relax? RELAX?!" she hissed, "I'm not going to relax! We're at school, Ronald! We're here to learn, remember?"

Ron rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, I remember. Once we get our schedules, I'll try to act like I want to learn. Right, Harry?"

"Don't drag me into this. You're the one blowing his mouth off at Hermione," Harry muttered, "I got up when I was supposed to. You're the one having dreams about..."

"Okay, let's eat! I'm starving!" Ron interjected loudly, a slight blush flushing his cheeks. Harry chuckled while Ron just sent a glare his way. Hermione sent Ron a curious look and then shot Harry a questioning look. However, she wasn't getting anything out of either of them, as Ron determinedly wouldn't meet her eyes, and Harry just smirked and went back to his breakfast. The twins remained oddly silent, but their expressions betrayed them because they were exchanging rather devious expressions.

Lydia leaned over and poked Catherine. When the redhead looked over, the Asian girl asked nervously, "Is that him? Is that...your brother?"

Catherine looked over to see where he was and replied, "Yeah. He's sitting across from Ginny. When we get up to leave, I'll introduce him to you."

Lydia looked close to tears, "Thank you so much!"

Crissy laughed and waved her off, "It's fine. I don't have any problems doing it for a friend."

The young Asian girl's eyes immediately brimmed with unshed tears, and she mumbled hopefully, "I'm...your friend?"

"Of course!" Crissy said assertively, "You'll be living with us for the next seven years, so we need to be friends!"

The group of friends and relatives continued chatting over a good breakfast. The Great Hall slowly filled up until all of the students were present. Percy came in half an hour after the girls came down and sat down next to Ron, to his little brother's chagrin. The rest of the teachers also dribbled in, Dumbledore the last to arrive to breakfast.

Once everyone was mostly done with their breakfast, Dumbledore stood up, and the Great Hall instantly quieted. All of the students focused their eyes on their Headmaster, except for some of the Slytherins, who were whispering amongst themselves. Malfoy and his goons were some of the ones participating. Dumbledore continued his course of action regardless and said, "Students, in a few minutes, your Heads of House will be coming to your House tables to distribute your schedules for this year. Enjoy the rest of your breakfast!" As he sat back down, the four Heads of House stood up and walked down to distribute schedules to their students.

Since the group consisting of the Potters, Weasleys, and their friends was the closest to the Head Table, Professor McGonagall started with them. She picked up a stack of plain parchment at the head of the Gryffindor table and walked down one side of the table, charming the parchment to show each student's respective schedule. Once she was done with them, she moved on down the table. Crissy and Ginny eagerly compared their schedules, and they both cheered in glee as they realized that they had the same schedules. Lydia, sitting beside them, was quiet and perused her own schedule. When Crissy noticed this, she looked over and asked, "What's your schedule look like, Lydia?"

Lydia, surprised, said, "Oh...um...here you go." She handed Crissy her piece of parchment. In transit, though, her eyes locked on Harry, and Crissy had to yank the parchment out of her friend's grasp, though with a smirk present on her face.

"Well, it looks like all us first years have the same schedule. That's both good and bad..." she muttered unhappily, giving Ginny's other neighbor a disgruntled look. She pushed him out of her mind and said brightly, "Oh, well, at least us girls are together, and that's all that matters!"

"Yeah...that's good," Lydia replied softly.

Crissy grinned and turned to her brother, who was chatting with Ron about their schedules. "Hey, Harry! Let me see your schedule!" Harry, without missing a beat, handed his schedule over to her and inspected Ron's, since they were both the same. Ginny moved over on the bench to take a look as well, and Lydia, while pretending to be uninterested, sent intent peeks every now and again.

After only a few seconds, Crissy tossed it back across the table. Harry and Ron, who were done conversing, got up to leave, and Hermione did as well. Feeling a tugging on her robes, Crissy got up as well. Ginny and Lydia quickly joined her, and they shuffled past a surprised Hermione so they could intercept Harry at the front door.

The three girls caught up to him right outside the Great Hall, unfortunately being intercepted by Malfoy as he pretended to spill some pumpkin juice in their general direction. Luckily, Hermione snapped at him before he could do anything, and the girls managed to slip away unnoticed. Crissy shouted, "Hey, Harry, wait up!" Both her brother and Ron stopped and turned around as the group of three ran up to join them.

"Well, sis, are you enjoying Hogwarts?" Harry asked, a smile present on his face.

"Yeah, it's great!" Crissy enthused, "The bathrooms here are amazing! They're even better than the ones at home!"

"I have to agree with you there," he replied, laughing, "And we don't even have to clean them!"

"That's the best part about this place," Ron added, "All we have to do is go to class...then again, that can be a chore sometimes..."

"Honestly, Ronald," Hermione scolded, having come up behind the large group, "if you would only concentrate on your studies, it wouldn't be such a chore, as you call it."

Ron immediately shot back, "Okay, Hermione, try to convince me that going to Snape's class doesn't take all the willpower you have!"

The brilliant bushy haired girl faltered for a moment, caught off guard by the odd request, but she managed to recover and replied, "It's not the effort you put into dealing with the teacher, Ronald, it's the effort that you put into learning!"

Harry's expression quickly grew sour, and he muttered, "Oh, great, they'll be arguing for the next ten minutes..."

"Do they do this a lot?" Crissy asked curiously.

"Yeah. It's their way of having a normal conversation," Harry replied tiredly.

Crissy and Ginny exchanged glances filled with laughter, and Crissy finally grabbed her Asian friend and dragged her to her side, making Lydia blush deeply. "Harry, I want to introduce you to someone who really wanted to meet you. This is Lydia Nakamura. Lydia, this is my brother, the wonderful and awesome Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter."

Harry switched his gaze to Lydia, who quickly averted her gaze and tried to hide behind Ginny. This proved to be a futile tactic, as Ginny turned beet red due to Harry's attention being turned in her general direction, and she did the first thing that came to mind – she squeaked and hid behind Crissy, who smirked. That left Lydia out in the open, and she was frozen in place. Harry, oblivious to the discomfort floating in the air, smiled and said, "It's nice to meet you, Lydia." He held out his hand politely. This surprised her, and she managed to briefly touch her hand to his before she squeaked and turned away. Harry, not knowing what to do, awkwardly pulled his hand back, and his sister began to crack up. "Hey, what's so funny?" he asked defiantly.

"Oh, nothing," she responded, still giggling, "You wouldn't understand anyways."

"I probably don't want to understand, either," he muttered as the bell rang in the background. "You'd better get to class, Crissy. Don't want to be late on your first day, do you?" he asked teasingly.

"Good point. I'll see you later, Harry. Tell Ron and Hermione that, too, when they get done arguing," she said before heading for the stairs, Ginny and Lydia accompanying her. Harry shook his head and went his own way, with Ron and Hermione following behind, still arguing.

Ginny and Lydia finally caught up to their excited redheaded friend, who was descending down the staircase towards the dungeons. "Wait up, Crissy. There's no need to get in a hurry," Ginny panted, "According to our brothers, this isn't a class to be getting excited about."

"W-Wait, what's wrong with Potions?" Lydia asked nervously, stopping suddenly.

Crissy looked funny at her for a moment, and then it finally hit her, "Oh, yeah. You wouldn't know since you don't have any siblings. Well..." and she stopped with a dramatic pause, "all you need to know is that Professor Snape is the world's biggest git. I'd be willing to be that he's a lot worse than half the prisoners in Azkaban."

Lydia now sported a terrified look on her face, and Ginny muttered to her best friend, "Good going." She turned to Lydia and said, "Lydia, it's not like he's going to attack you or something in the middle of class. According to our brothers, he's just a little biased towards Gryffindors. That's all."

That seemed to ease some of the tension in the Asian girl's face, and she responded, "O-Oh, that's alright. I thought he was a convict or something like that..." Ginny and Crissy exchanged a look as they thought about what James and Sirius would say in response to that.

The three girls continued walking down into the depths of the castle, and Lydia piped up again, saying, "I do have an older brother." Both redheads looked up with interest. "He just never went here. He studied in Japan when we still lived there."

"Oh...that's really neat..." Ginny murmured.

Crissy's response was different, as she bluntly asked, "Is he cute?"

Lydia blushed and tried futilely to form a sentence, and Ginny grinned, adding, "Yeah, tell us!"

Now the Asian girl was really flustered, and she finally said, "Um...well...I guess he is...he's been with the same girl for a really long time, and they're engaged now..."

Both of her companions frowned comically, and Crissy said dejectedly, "That stinks. No chance for me to date a cute Asian ninjutsu user." Glancing at her best friend, she added slyly, "Ginny wouldn't have had a chance anyways, though..."

"And why's that?" Ginny demanded.

"You're already taken, that's why," Crissy shot back, grinning madly.

"By who?" Ginny snapped.

Crissy waited a few moments and then sung, "My brother!"

Ginny blushed madly before responding with, "Look at the pot calling the kettle black! You're taken, too!"

"Well, do you mind sharing who it is, then, because I have no idea," the Potter daughter muttered.

Just then, they heard some footsteps coming down towards the dungeons, and a few seconds later, Romulus Black appeared. He stopped when he saw them standing there, looking at him, Lydia with curiosity, Ginny with a sly and calculating look, and Crissy with trepidation. "Did I miss something?" he asked slowly.

"No, no, nothing at all. We were just surprised that you were behind us the whole time," Ginny replied genially, shooting a sly glance at Crissy, who was glaring daggers at her.

"Oh. Okay," he responded, and he began to walk through and past them, lifting a hand up as he headed towards Snape's classroom, "I'll see you three there."

Once he had disappeared around a corner, Crissy hissed, "Thanks a lot! He heard that whole thing!"

"No, he didn't," Ginny replied smoothly, "He would have said something. Now let's get to class before we get written up for being late." She and Lydia continued down the corridor where Romulus had gone, and Crissy grumpily followed behind.

A few more yards down the hallway was the classroom. Two distinct groups were standing outside the door, one for Slytherin and one for Gryffindor, since the Gryffindors were unfortunate to have to deal with Slytherin in the class taught by Slytherin's Head of House. The three new arrivals quickly joined the Gryffindor group on the side of the door that came from the main castle.

A minute later, Snape came swooping down from upstairs, looking, like usual, an overgrown bat. He unlocked the door and grunted, "In!" before stalking in himself. The Slytherins flooded into the classroom right afterwards, and the Gryffindors followed reluctantly.

Snape was at the front of the classroom by then, and he snapped, "Sit!" The kids did as they were asked, and he immediately began his speech about the dangers of being in a Potions laboratory, causing some of the kids present to flinch at the thought of the things he was mentioning. However, many of the Slytherins and Romulus didn't look phased at all, and Crissy and Ginny were looking at their instructor with a bit of curiosity.

"Alright, then," Snape drawled, launching straight into teaching without any warning, "Let's see if anyone read over their books before coming to class...Miss Potter!"

Crissy immediately snapped to attention and said, "Yes, Professor?"

"Tell me, where would you go if you wanted to find a bezoar? Also tell me what it is good for," he sneered.

Many of the students in the classroom were puzzled by the odd question, but Crissy, remembering the answer from when Harry told her about a similar encounter he had, said, "In the stomach of a goat, sir, and it can be used to cure most poisons."

Snape looked at her for more than a few moments and then turned his gaze to the seat over. "Miss Weasley, what's the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

The confused looks returned to most of the children's faces in the classroom, but Ginny was not fooled, and she replied, "They're the same plant, sir."

Again, Snape looked long and hard at her, but he didn't say anything more to her. Instead, he addressed the class, "Get out your supplies and start on a Boil Removal Potion. The instructions," and he flicked his wand at the board, where writing began to appear, "are on the board, and the supplies are in the cupboard over there. This is due at the end of class. Get started."

There was a lot of shuffling and clanging as everyone clambered to get their supplies in order, and Crissy and Ginny immediately began on their potion as they partnered up. Lydia, not exactly knowing what to do, began to panic slightly. However, Romulus came to the rescue as he was sitting right next to her, and they began to work together. The class was very quiet as the children worked on the relatively easy potion, and the only sounds were knives cutting things, the occasional splash from something being put into the developing potion, and whispers between partners.

At one point, about three-quarters of the way through the class period, the two redheads found themselves in the shadow of Snape, who was giving the ingredients that Crissy was about to put into the potion a disapproving look. "Miss Potter...did you remember to cut the comfrey leaves against the grain first and then with the grain second?"

"No, sir. Is that a bad thing?" she responded, not getting the problem. She gave him an honest, confused look.

"Yes, it is a 'bad thing.' Cut the wrong way, the comfrey leaves will cause the potion to vaporize into a gas that would give everyone in this room very nasty boils," he explained slowly, looking annoyed to have to do so. He waved his wand and Vanished the leaves that Crissy had spent the last ten minutes slowly and carefully cutting up. Both girls scowled at his retreating back, and Crissy went to get some more leaves to cut up.

By the time the bell rang, most of the kids were done with their potions, and everyone put a sample of what they had finished into a vial and set it in the rack on Snape's desk. As the kids were filing out of the room, he said after them, "Nine inches of parchment on the uses of this potion and its use combined with other potions. That is due next class period."

As the rest of the students left to get to their next class, Crissy and Ginny waited behind for Lydia to meet up with them. She came out a few seconds later, followed by Romulus, who walked past with a wave and headed to his next class. "Sorry. Lydia. We didn't realize that there were only two to a potion," Ginny said apologetically.

"It's alright. Romulus is a really nice guy," she replied happily as the three headed to their next class, Transfiguration.

"There's my quote of the week. 'Romulus is a really nice guy,'" Crissy muttered.

"You know I can hear you, right?" the young man in question said up ahead of them as they walked up the stairs.

"You know we don't care, right?" she hissed back at him. He gave her a look that appeared to be one of slight sadness before turning his head back forward and continuing on his way. Crissy huffed and stomped after him, though careful not to close the gap between them. Ginny and Lydia followed.

A few minutes later, in the Transfiguration classroom, the bell rang, and the last remaining people, a few Ravenclaws, scrambled into the classroom and claimed whatever seats were left over. Crissy and Ginny claimed the middle table in the front row, and Lydia once again joined Romulus at the left hand table in the front row.

Professor McGonagall hadn't arrived in the classroom yet, but there was a tabby cat peering at the students from the front desk. Some of the students began to whisper amongst themselves, trying to figure out where their absent instructor was, but they were quickly hushed as the cat jumped off the desk and transformed into Professor McGonagall in mid leap.

One glare from her, and the class immediately quieted. She immediately jumped right into her explanation of the class, and the kids were caught up in her quick and sharp summary of her teachings. Once she was done with her explanation, she said, "Alright, today we will be working on something that should be rather easy. I want you to work on transforming a match, which I will give you in a moment, into a needle." Murmurs began to break out across the class again, but McGonagall wasn't done yet. "Miss Nakamura, if you would please hand out a match to everyone. That would be wonderful." Lydia gulped nervously but got up and took the proffered box of matches. She went around the room slowly, probably due to her nervousness, but everyone got a match, and McGonagall warmly said, "Thank you, Miss Nakamura," before going back to her desk.

The students were soon hard at work, prodding their matches in hopes that they'd be able to figure out how to turn it into a needle before everyone else did. McGonagall had given them some tips as to how to do the transfiguration, but many were having issues. Both Crissy and Ginny had gotten their matches to have a sharp end to them, and Romulus was close to having a distinct needle eye. Lydia wasn't having much luck at all.

With about ten minutes left in class, Crissy happily exclaimed, "I think I've got it, Professor!"

McGonagall got up and walked over to her desk and sure enough, Crissy's match was now a shiny, silver needle. "Well done, Miss Potter! Class, come take a look at the needle if you are having troubles. You might need to get a good image of a needle in your mind." A lot of the kids came and crowded around Ginny and Catherine's table to get a good look at the needle, and many congratulated the young redhead on her feat. The only person who didn't get up was Romulus, and that was because there was no need for him to get up, since he already had a needle sitting in front of him. He thought no one had seen that, but McGonagall had a knowing look in her eye as she passed by his desk on the way to her own.

When the bell rang, there were still only two people with transfigured needles, so McGonagall shouted after the leaving students, "Make sure to practice. That's all the homework for tonight!"

As the students streamed out of the classroom, Crissy whispered, "Wow, I thought we'd get loaded down with homework, according to what our brothers said. That wasn't bad at all!"

"Well, you're not the one who has to try to turn a stupid match into a needle," Ginny muttered back.

Crissy laughed, "Yeah, you have a good point. Want to get some lunch?"

"That sounds great," Ginny replied, looking worn out and starving.

The two girls headed to the Great Hall, which was already filled to the brim with students. Crissy spotted their brothers and Hermione towards the middle of the Gryffindor table, so they made a beeline for them.

"Move over, Harry! Lemme sit down!" Crissy said, pushing her brother to the side.

Harry, who had a fork full of ham held in his hand, accidentally dropped it onto Hermione's plate, and he quickly apologized to her before hissing, "Good going!"

"I do my best," she chirped, filling up her plate. Romulus and Lydia went down where the twins and Percy were sitting, since there were more empty seats down that way, and Ginny was left standing up, trying to find a spot. No one noticed her not being able to find a seat, so she went and dejectedly plopped down next to Lydia.

Crissy noticed something rather surprising – Ron wasn't even attempting to eat the meager portion of food on his plate. Rather, he looked terrified of something. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she asked, "What's the matter, Ron?"

Ron looked up, and his face grew even more serious and scared. The expressions on Harry and Hermione's faces were a combination of anger and sympathy. "I don't think Ron wants to talk about it, sis..." Harry muttered.

"You're not Ron, are you?" Crissy countered, and Harry had no response for that. "Now what's going on?"

Hermione tried to start an explanation of her own, but Ron held up his hand and said, "It's alright. It's not like she's going to run off and tell my mum." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand...or what was left of it. It was broken in two, and the two halves were weakly held together by what appeared to be Spellotape.

Crissy's jaw dropped comically, and she spluttered, "What did you do?"

Now Ron's real personality began to come back, and he retorted defensively, "It wasn't me! Bloody Malfoy pushed me into a wall on the way to class, and I didn't think much of it, but when I got to class and pulled out my wand, it was broken in half!"

"Well, Professor Flitwick let you use my wand when we needed to practice," Harry responded, trying to cheer up his best friend. Ron shrugged and poked around at his food a little bit.

"Good thing Snape doesn't teach a class that needs a wand..." he muttered back, "He'd probably give me detention..."

Hermione looked like she was going to try to support Snape, but two glares from the boys stopped her in her tracks. Crissy, who had been listening the whole time as she ate, piped in, "He docked me points today because I chopped up something the wrong way. Like that would matter!"

All three exchanged a look. "Was it the comfrey leaves in the Boil Removing Potion?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, it was," she responded, a tad surprised, "How'd you know?"

"Because Neville did it last year, and he had to go to the Hospital Wing," Ron replied, chuckling a bit at the end. Beside him, said boy poked Ron in the ribs and then nervously looked down at his plate when Ron looked at him.

Ron's appetite seemed to pick up, and he was soon attacking his food heartily, showing he was back to his old self for the time being.

A few minutes later, the bell rang, and the students still in the cafeteria began to swarm out to get to their next class. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville, along with the other Gryffindor second years, got up and headed to class, Harry saying goodbye to his younger sister. Crissy got up as well and was joined by Ginny and Lydia. Harry's sister looked a little surprised to see them and asked, "Where did you two get off to?"

"There weren't any seats left, so we had to go sit with Percy," Ginny snapped back harshly. Crissy recoiled slightly, and Lydia hung back, not wanting to get involved in the argument.

"Sorry!" the former quickly replied, waving her hands defensively, "It's just Percy, you know. He'll just bore you to death."

"Yeah, alright," Ginny muttered back, still sounding a little angry, "Let's just get to class."

"I need to get my books, so I'll meet you there, okay?" Crissy said. Ginny nodded and quickly turned and headed to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Lydia following behind, while Crissy ascended the staircases to Gryffindor Tower.

With only a few seconds to spare, Crissy managed to make it to Lockhart's classroom. Unfortunately, since she was so late, there was only one seat open, and it wasn't next to Ginny. Instead, she was forced to sit next to...

"Bloody Romulus..." she growled, stalking up to the front of the classroom, where the young man sat, by himself, at the center desk in the front row. She threw her stuff onto the desk and sat down in a huff, looking in any direction except to her right.

"This day is NOT getting any better..." she muttered grumpily to herself. At the same time she said that, Gilderoy Lockhart came out of his office and came to stand in front of the class. Immediately, all of the girls, including Crissy, snapped to attention and gazed at him dreamily. Forgetting all about her past troubles of the day, the redhead mumbled, "Then again, the day is getting better and better."

...xXx...

"...and then he said, 'Well, my dear, you certainly are the observant one!' He's so dreamy..." Crissy crooned, barely hitting her mouth as she raised her fork filled with her food.

"It should be illegal to be that attractive..." Ginny added, not even attempting to eat what was on her plate. Lydia didn't even have any food on her plate.

Next to them, Harry and Ron were imitating gagging, and Ron added, "I'm certainly not looking forward to his class. I hate people like him." Harry, thinking about the scheduling, pulled out his own schedule and looked at when they had his class. His face quickly dropped.

"Well, we have him tomorrow right before dinner," he said dejectedly.

Ron groaned. "Oh, bloody hell. He's going to make me lose my appetite..."

"Language, Ron," Hermione said across from him, but the reprimand wasn't really that harsh, since she was sending frequent glances up at the Head Table, where Lockhart was sitting, eating his dinner.

Ron gave her a good hard look and then said, "Hermione, I need you to help me with my homework tonight."

"Alright, Ron," she replied in the same dreamy voice from before, never taking her eyes off of the DADA teacher.

Ron shook his head and gave her a pitying glance. "I thought so. She never agrees to help me with my homework without griping about it first. We've lost her, Harry." He shrugged and went back to his meal, and Harry rolled his eyes before doing the same.

...xXx...

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting the next morning in one of the greenhouses, listening to Professor Sprout's introduction to second year Herbology.

"Today, class, we'll be working on Mandrakes. Can anyone tell me what their use is?" Professor Sprout asked. Immediately, Hermione's hand shot into the air.

"Mandrakes, or Mandragora, are a variety of plant that appears to be a normal plant, with purplish-green leaves. However, when pulled out of the earth, the taproot is very similar to a human baby, and depending on its maturity level, its cry can do anything from knock out a human to kill them at first sound," Hermione recited, a perfect textbook answer.

"Excellent! Well done, Ms. Granger!" Professor Sprout enthused, "Ten points to Gryffindor!" Hermione looked very pleased with herself. "Now, class, grab some earmuffs off the shelf over there, pair up in groups of three, and find a pot. And don't take all of the pink ones, I need a pair!" The students clamored around, trying to obtain a decently colored pair of earmuffs and finding a pot to stand next to with their two partners.

"Now," the short, plump witch said, "after all of you put on your dragonhide gloves, the strongest member of your group needs to grab the leaves and yank them up, while the other two members hold the pot in place. And make sure your muffs are on good and snug, or you'll be out cold until lunch!"

Harry and Hermione both held one side of their pot, while Ron grasped the leaves tightly. He yanked at the leaves with one mighty pull, and the plant gave free of the ground, along with many others throughout the room. The taproot was indeed a dirty little baby, and it was very angry at being disturbed, so it did what any other baby would do – it began to shriek. Even through the earmuffs, it caused some of the weaker-willed individuals to become a little shaky on their legs, and Neville fainted immediately, his loosely placed earmuffs clattering onto the floor.

"Silly boy...brilliant at Herbology, but a little scatterbrained..." Professor Sprout muttered, "Thomas, Finnigan, get him up to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey has a few things that can help him get back on his feet in no time." Dean and Seamus both sighed and put an arm each under Neville's shoulders and began to drag him out of the greenhouse. Lavender and Parvati were getting a good giggle out of watching them struggle with the very limp Longbottom.

"Now, back to work, everyone. Grab one of the larger pots underneath your tables and drop the Mandrake into it. You may then fill the pot with dragon dung until the taproot is completely covered. Remember to keep your earmuffs on, please!" Professor Sprout said, with emphasis on the 'please.' Harry grabbed the pot and quickly swapped it with the Mandrake's previous home, and Ron happily shoved the ugly plant into the pot. Hermione was waiting with a large bag of dragon dung, and all three began to shovel large loads of the soil into the pot until none of the baby like root was visible.

"Thank goodness," Ron groaned, wiping his brow with a clean portion of his sleeve, "I really hope the day doesn't get any worse than this..."

Harry grimaced as his friend said that and muttered, "Obviously someone forgot what his schedule was..."

...xXx...

"This has been absolutely the worst bloody day on the face of the bloody earth..." Ron groaned, banging his head into his desk in frustration. Even though he had called Ron's reaction, Harry couldn't help but agree with him. They were now stuck in double Defense Against the Dark Arts, and the class was awkwardly split in two. The front half of the classroom was filled with the girls in the class, and they were all staring raptly and lovingly at Gilderoy Lockhart, who was regaling the class with one of his unbelievable tales of heroic conquest in the Wizarding world. The other half of the classroom was the back half, filled with the boys. They were glaring furiously at either Lockhart or a girl they were interested in that was currently fixated on Lockhart.

Of course, Lockhart was oblivious to the attention, and he picked up a photo of himself on his desk before starting his class introduction, "As you can see in this dashing picture, I am Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of _Witch Weekly_'s Most-Charming Smile Award. I know, I know, you all are dying to hear about my wondrous exploits, but that will have to wait for another time, as we have a class to do." The girls all sighed in chorus, while the boys groaned in chorus. Lockhart was oblivious again. "Now, I know all of you have my books, so let's see if you flipped through them before class. I have a thirty minute pop quiz for you." He waved his wand flippantly at his desk, and papers haphazardly flew to each desk. "Go ahead and begin!"

Thirty minutes later, the pretty boy teacher Summoned back the papers. Most of the girls were looking quite confident with themselves, while the boys were a mixture of those who looked like they wanted to throw up and those who were trying to repress laughter at the stupidity of the quiz. Lockhart frowned as he glanced through the papers. "The young men did not fare too well on this. Apparently they didn't read anything before class," he clucked, "Though the young ladies did fabulous...especially Miss Hermione Granger. She got all of the questions correct. Where are you, Miss Granger?" Hermione waved her hand frantically, and Lockhart flashed her a dazzling smile. "Ten points to Gryffindor for your outstanding performance."

He Vanished the papers, ignoring the angry protests from the boys, and he pulled a covered cage out from under his desk and set it on top. "Now, today's creature is one of the most dangerous and lethal creatures on the face of this earth. You need to be VERY careful when dealing with these creatures."

The class gasped in suspense and fright, and Lockhart whipped the cover off of the cage, saying dramatically, "Yes. They are...Cornish Pixies!"

The class then sighed in relief. The neon blue, two-thirds of a foot tall creatures were not very threatening, but they did start to hiss and clench their long-nailed fingers.

"Okay, class, I'll let you experience these creatures for yourself. Do not be afraid; just observe!" Then he did the dumbest thing imaginable – he opened the cage.

The pixies streamed out of the cage and began wreaking havoc everywhere. The girls, minus Hermione, screamed in terror and hid under anything they could possibly find, followed quickly by most of the boys. Neville wasn't quick enough, and two of the pixies grabbed him by his robes and hoisted him into the air, eventually depositing him on the chandelier. Books were flying, papers were being shredded, hair was being pulled, robes were being ripped, and bags were being upended. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were doing their best to beat away the buzzing pests, and Ron shouted, "Do something, _Professor_!"

"R-Right!" Lockhart stuttered. He pulled out his wand and brandished it, shouting, "_Peskipiksi Pesternomi_!" The ridiculous-sounding spell did nothing, and his wand was soon tossed out a window by a pixie. He screamed like a little girl and quickly disappeared into his office.

The bell miraculously rang, and everyone except Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the trapped Neville ran out thankfully. Hermione finally shouted, "_Immobulus_!" and the pixies all stopped in their tracks, falling to the ground. "Well, that was certainly a stimulating exercise!" she said happily, wiping her brow.

"What? Is that what you call it?" Ron snapped back, "The guy's a lunatic! He has no idea what he's doing!"

"Really, Ron! He was teaching us the importance of safety around Cornish pixies!" she shot back.

As another argument started anew, Harry shook his head and lowered the chandelier to the ground, allowing Neville to extricate himself. He left the room, and Harry followed close behind, leaving the task of rounding up the pixies to his friends. He had more important issues to deal with than his friends' bickering, like dinner.

...xXx...

AN: Honestly, not very satisfied with this chapter. There were quite a few places where I had to take a long time to decide how the story should continue. Oh well, that must be part of the joy of creativity...writers' block.

Let me get one thing clear. This is not going to be a _Naruto_ crossover. I'm not making the ninjutsu of this story anything like the _Naruto_ ninjutsu. There might be some visual similarities, but I won't intentionally copy the names. I'll go for more direct translations of what the attacks will actually appear to be, so there might be a few crossovers, but they won't be everywhere.

Also, check out my one shot, "You Would, James..." It provides an explanation to the origin of Catherine's nickname, Crissy, since some of you have been asking me about that. This is shameless self-promotion, if you were wondering, and I'm proud of it. Hope you enjoy it!


	12. Book 2: The Chamber of Secrets

AN: Now we start into the CoS plot. Hope you all enjoy! One thing I might have confused a few people with is the bell that rings five minutes before, at the beginning, and the end of classes. That is an actual bell, housed in one of the towers, that projects its sound throughout the castle with a spell. That was not present in the books, but I thought it might be appropriate. Hope that clears that up.

AN2: HBP kicked ass. Best one yet. And as a present to you, my loyal readers, you get both the HBP movie and an update from me. Pretty generous, huh?

Disclaimer: I do not own _Harry Potter_ or anything related to J.K. Rowling's works except for my own original characters and storylines.

...xXx...Chapter 12 – The Chamber of Secrets...xXx...

The next morning, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in the Great Hall, having a bite to eat before they had to leave to go to Charms. They were having a rather nice, quiet meal. Harry and Ron had been discussing Hogwarts Quidditch, while Hermione read up on a few things in her Charms book and, to the surprise of Harry and Ron, added in her two cents every now and again with observations she had made during the previous year.

"Really, you two," she huffed, flipping a page in her book, "You act like it's a bad thing for me to even know anything about Quidditch. I did attend all of the games last year that Harry was in, and I did notice some things that might be helpful."

"You were also setting Snape's robes on fire last year," Ron shot back, wagging his finger at her. Hermione chose to ignore that.

"Ron, I was hanging by my ankle from my broom," Harry muttered, remembering that particular episode with a grimace, "I doubt anyone would have gotten anything strategically important from that..."

"Okay, okay, fine..." Ron grumbled.

Any further conversation concerning Quidditch was brought to an abrupt halt, as a new arrival entered the Great Hall, screaming, "IT'S HARRY POTTER!" The three looked towards the entrance and saw a young blond boy running full speed at them. Behind him, walking at a normal pace, was Romulus, looking regretful and annoyed. The boy came to a halt in front of Harry and quickly snapped a photograph of him with the bulky camera in his hands, causing all three to blink and rub their eyes to try to get some circulation back into them. "Oh Merlin, this is so amazing!" he blurted out, "I'm standing next to Harry Potter! I can't believe it!"

"Um...it's nice to meet you, too..." Harry said slowly, giving Romulus a look that said, "Thanks a lot." The grey eyed boy shrugged and sat down, serving himself some breakfast. Harry turned his attention back to the bouncing boy and asked, "What's your name? I didn't catch it." A sound behind the bouncing boy caught Harry's attention, and he leaned over a little bit and saw that the Slytherins that had already arrived were snickering at his plight.

"I'm Colin Creevey! This is so cool! I never thought I'd be even near you, but here I am!" he said, quickly taking another picture, causing Harry to again rub his blinded eyes.

"Well...um, Colin, why don't you sit down and have some breakfast?" Harry asked, trying to be polite.

Colin's eyes widened and he stammered, "W-Wow! Eating breakfast with Harry Potter! Wait until my brother hears about this!" He sat down and got a meager amount of food before launching into an intense question and answer session. Harry had considerable trouble trying to keep up, and Ron was having considerable trouble trying not to laugh too hard or obviously. Hermione kept reading her book, remaining oblivious to everything around her except for that.

Soon, most of the school began to trickle into the cafeteria. Colin continued to give Harry the interrogation of his life, and Harry did his best to try to keep up. Ron eventually struck up a conversation with Romulus about Quidditch, since Harry was otherwise occupied. With only about fifteen minutes left in the breakfast period, Crissy, Ginny, and Lydia finally came dashing in. Ginny and Lydia looked fine, but Crissy looked like she had just gotten out of the shower. She also had to stifle a large yawn as she entered. Due to the amount of people who had finally gotten into the Great Hall, the only seats left were two next to Ron and one next to Romulus. Ginny and Lydia quickly went around the other side of the table and got the two by Ron, leaving Crissy to force her way in between her brother and Romulus.

"Gee, thanks a lot, Crissy," Romulus muttered. She ignored him and quickly got some stuff on her plate and started digging into it.

Once she had a good share of her food consumed, she leaned over and whispered to her brother, "I see you've met Colin Creevey. A real chatterbox, isn't he?"

Harry rolled his eyes. Thankfully, Colin had stopped his interrogation to actually eat some breakfast, so he whispered back, "How do you all put up with him? He thinks I'm some kind of god. I hate being a..." and he shuddered, "...celebrity..."

"He's not that bad, as long as you don't get him started about you. If he's just having a normal conversation with you, he's actually kind of sweet," Crissy stated. However, the look on Harry's face showed that he did not believe her one bit.

A few minutes later, the bell rang, and mostly everyone at that part of the table got up. Harry tried to make a hasty getaway, but he was not quick enough, because Colin quickly put the camera in front of the two of them and snapped a picture of them sitting next to each other. "Thanks, Harry! I'll see you around!" he chirped before running off to class, his bag and camera bouncing around as he ran through the crowds.

"That kid is nuts," Ron stated, shaking his head in amazement.

Harry was still trying to get rid of the stars floating around in his vision. When he finally had rubbed them enough to be able to see Ron giving Colin a weird look as he departed, he said, "Crissy thinks he's sweet when he's not talking about me. Do you believe it?"

"Not in the least," he replied firmly, "What do the Muggles call it? Hyperanchoring? That's what he is." The three friends began to walk out of the Great Hall and towards Charms, the first period of the day for them.

"Hyperactive, Ron," Hermione stated, "and Colin is just star struck. That's not a bad thing."

Harry turned around and gave her a disbelieving look. "You're joking, right? That kid is a menace to society."

"Harry, you're so mean," Crissy piped in, appearing at his side, "He just really admires you. You should be thankful that more people haven't done that."

"You're a big help," he muttered in response.

"That's what little sisters are for!" she said happily.

"Yeah, yeah, to annoy your big brother until he wants to punch something," Harry replied grumpily.

Crissy grinned cheekily, "Exactly! Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get to class. I'll see you guys later! C'mon, Ginny, Lydia!" She and her two friends got off at the first floor, heading towards History of Magic, while Harry, Ron, and Hermione continued on to the third floor, where Professor Flitwick awaited them.

...xXx...

It was the next day, and what better a way to spend a Saturday morning than to have Quidditch practice at the crack of dawn? Well, Oliver Wood, ever the workaholic, did indeed schedule a Quidditch practice at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning, and his team was not very happy about it.

"Wood's lost it..." Fred grumbled, idly banging the bench he was sitting on with his Beater's club.

"Wood's never had it to begin with..." George grumbled back, knocking his club into Fred's, resulting in a jousting contest that had the other members of the team laughing hysterically, despite the damper subject of Wood's fanaticism.

"You all are too harsh on him. Wood's trying to be a good captain! Don't you want to win the Quidditch Cup?" Alicia Spinnett said in his defense. The twins stopped their duel and looked at her doubtfully.

Fred looked at the changing room and made sure Wood wasn't about to come out before saying to his brother, "We've lost her to the dark side, George," making a reference to a movie James had shown their family a year or two back.

"Indeed we have, Fred. It is a shameful thing indeed," George responded, acting despondent.

"Well, at least Harry is still on our side, right?" Fred asked hopefully. Both got up and sat down a few feet down on either side of their Seeker, giving him expectant looks.

Harry tried to think of something neutral to say, but what came out of his mouth was anything but that, "I'm sorry, you two, but I'm on Alicia's side. Wood's just trying to get us in tip-top shape so we can get the Cup." While the twins fell over each other behind his back and pretended to cry, Harry added ruefully, "Though he could schedule practice during the afternoon." He mentally apologized to his sister for that mishap. She had wanted to come and watch their Quidditch practice, but she had no idea that it was so early, so she got angry and stormed off before Harry could apologize for something that was, really, out of his control.

The flap to the boy's locker room opened, and Oliver Wood stepped into the room, his broom held tightly in his hand. "Alright, team, I trust you have reviewed our plays over the summer?" He gestured to his well worn playbook sitting on the table besides the chalkboard.

"Wait, we were actually supposed to look at that?" George asked curiously.

"Apparently we were, George. Such a shame, since I didn't read it either," Fred said sadly, shaking his head in disappointment. George slung an arm around his brother's shoulder and began to shake his head as well, in perfect sync with Fred.

"Knock it off, you two!" Wood barked, "Just for that, practice is half an hour longer today! Now, get out those playbooks so we can start going through them!" There were plenty of groans from the Chasers and Seeker, but they all grudgingly pulled out the two inch thick books that had been given to them at the end of last year. To the dismay of the entire team, even Alicia, Wood began to read through every single play in the book, and soon, the twins were fast asleep. Fred was slightly drooling on Angelina's shoulder, and George was close to falling onto Katie's lap. Neither girl bothered to wake them up as they were about in the same predicament.

After forty-five minutes of reviewing the plays, the sleepy team, except Wood, marched out of their meeting room and onto the pitch. As Harry took to the skies, he glanced around at the stands and surprisingly saw a few people sitting in the stands. Hermione and Romulus were sitting in the second row of a set of stands, appearing to do homework. When Hermione noticed Harry flying nearby, she gave him a wave before returning to helping Romulus with his homework. There were also two other people, on opposite sides of the pitch, high up in the stands. They were sitting in the shadows of awnings, so there was no way to distinguish who they were. Harry wouldn't have noticed them if he hadn't seen some movement out of the corner of his eye.

There wasn't any time to ponder that because Wood immediately blew a whistle and began practice. Despite the cold temperatures and sleepiness of the whole team, it was still a very productive practice, and the team left the pitch feeling good about their overall performance. Harry, after getting a shower and changed into normal clothes, met Hermione, Romulus, and Ron, who had shown up sometime during practice, outside the tent. Ron had a napkin full of toast in his hands, and Harry asked, "Did you bring that down here for me?"

Ron looked repulsed and was about to reply, but Hermione elbowed him and said, "Yes, he did, because he is such a considerate friend. Right, Ronald?" She said the last part with a threatening edge to her voice.

Ron grumbled, "Yeah, a bloody considerate friend who brings his breakfast down to the pitch to watch his bloody best mate practice and ends up giving away his breakfast to his bloody best mate...bloody hell, I'm hungry." And with that, he began to shove toast into his mouth.

While Hermione began to chew him out about that, Harry looked at Romulus, who was readjusting his bag on his shoulders, and asked, "What did you think of practice?"

The young boy responded, "It looked like a lot of fun. You guys aren't nearly as fast as the professional players. I could keep up with what you all were doing pretty well."

"You might be a Beater once the twins leave, then. I know you've always enjoying hitting Bludgers at people," Harry laughed, though not without wincing when he thought of some of the blows he had received from Bludgers hit by his young friend.

Romulus shrugged. "Actually, I was thinking about becoming a Chaser. Being a Beater is fun, but I've always really wanted to be a Chaser," he replied, "I'm not that good at it, but I think that I would enjoy it more."

"If you think you would enjoy it more, then you just need to work hard and get better at it, and maybe you can be a Chaser once the girls leave!" Harry said happily. Romulus grinned faintly, and the two began to walk up towards the castle, Ron running past them as he tried to escape Hermione's wrath. The rest of the team joined them walking up.

When they reached the front gates, a rude sight met their eyes. Marcus Flint and the rest of the Slytherin Quidditch team were marching towards the pitch, and they pushed, bumped, and snarled their way past the Gryffindors. Flint sneered at the Gryffindors, showing off his jagged teeth, and he said, "Wood, you can't honestly expect to make a team out of that trash."

Wood, not fazed, shot back, "Well, Flint, you can't honestly expect to graduate from Hogwarts on time with your abysmal marks."

"Touché," the Slytherin captain replied, "Though I'd love to stick around and..._chat_...we have business to attend to. We have a new Seeker to train, and I'd hate to have to..._report_...that you all were holding up our practice.

"New Seeker?" Ron asked, looking around confusedly, "Who?"

"Me, Weasley, that's who," a person hidden behind the bulky Slytherin team said smoothly. The larger members moved aside to allow Draco Malfoy to walk forward, clutching a suspiciously familiar broom like a trophy.

"Yes, Draco blew out the competition for the job. We'll definitely win the Cup with him as our Seeker," Flint said, looking extremely cocky.

Fred leaned over to George and muttered, "Little rat probably only got on the team because of his father."

He had thought he had said it quietly enough, but Flint had heard, and he sneered, "Funny you should mention his father, Weasley. He was kind enough to give all of us broom upgrades to celebrate Draco becoming the new Seeker. Take a look." He and all of the other Slytherins held up their brooms, and the Gryffindors were shocked to see the gold lettering of the words _Nimbus Two Thousand and One_ staring back at them.

"Too right you are, Fred," George replied grumpily.

"They're the latest model of broomstick," Flint stated, "They far outstrip the Cleansweeps," giving the twins' battered brooms a pitying glance, "in all aspects, and the Comets can't lay a twig on their maneuverability. Of course, they also blow past the old Two Thousands in terms of speed. Mr. Malfoy truly is a generous man."

Malfoy couldn't resist the urge to add in his two cents, and he said to Ron, "Well, what kind of broom do you have, Weasley? If all your brothers can afford are two Cleansweep Fives, then who knows what kind of stick you have. Is it that old Cleansweep One prototype that's in the Blarmeyton Quidditch Museum?" The Slytherins began to chuckle. Ron didn't respond, but his ears began to burn red. The twins both looked like they wanted to beat Malfoy into a pulp.

"Seriously, Malfoy? Is that the best you can come up with?" Hermione snapped, "At least our players didn't have to _buy_ their way onto our team."

The pale blonde's face suddenly grew dark, and he snarled, "Don't you dare talk down to me like that, you filthy little Mudblood!"

That certainly elicited a reaction out of the Gryffindors. Wood paled significantly, and the grip on his broom tightened. Angelina and Alicia covered their mouths in horror, and Katie squeaked and glared angrily at Malfoy. Fred and George looked ready to pounce on the Slytherin boy, but they were barely restraining themselves, though their bats were held tightly in their hands. Harry was mad as well, but he knew that attacking Malfoy was not going to solve the issue. Hermione just stood where she had been, looking close to crying.

Ron, however, wasn't that quick on the uptake. He whipped out his broken wand and aimed it at Malfoy, but the result wasn't quite right. Instead of a spell shooting out at Malfoy, Ron's wand shot a grayish-green light back at its owner. Ron dropped his wand in surprise and clutched his gut.

"Ron, what's wrong?" Harry asked worriedly. Ron did not give an answer but instead retched heavily. But instead of the expected result, slugs came out of his mouth. At least two dozen slimy animals flew from his mouth and landed on the ground, writhing in their newfound freedom.

That sure got the Slytherins going. The older members of the team began to guffaw loudly, Flint had to lean on his broom just to remain standing, and Malfoy was laughing so hard that he dropped to the ground and began to beat it with his fists. Ron's only defense of himself was to belch a few more slugs. "That's priceless!" Malfoy crowed.

Harry pulled out his own wand and was about to say something to Malfoy when another person showed up on the scene. "Potter, Weasley, detention tonight for fighting," Professor Snape sneered as he walked past them on the way to the Quidditch pitch, "and twenty points from Gryffindor for trying to contest a teacher's disciplinary measures," he added, as Hermione tried to appeal her friends' punishment. He continued on his way down to the pitch, and Malfoy followed behind, still having trouble getting his laughter under control.

"C'mon, Ron," Harry muttered, "Let's get you down to Hagrid's. He can probably help you out." The red haired boy gurgled in response, a few more slugs dribbling out of his mouth.

...xXx...

Ron and Harry were sent to different teachers for their detentions. Ron was sent to Filch to clean all of the trophies in the Trophy Room with his bare hands. Of course, Filch made sure that no magic could be used, even though Ron's wand was still unusable, by taking it from him until the caretaker was sure that all of the trophies were clean enough.

Depending on the point of view of the person being asked, Harry's punishment was either a thousand times better or a million times worse than what Ron had to deal with. He had to stay with Lockhart for the entire evening, preparing responses to all of the fan mail he had received over the last few days.

Harry grimaced as he answered yet another fan letter. This one was rather tame compared to some of them, only saying "_I love you so much, Gilderoy! Please marry me!"_ Harry had seen a few letters that he was surprised Lockhart would allow him to read, but since it was technically a detention, he had no choice but to keep on going.

He took another of the premade responses that Lockhart had prepared, took a photo of Lockhart from a pile (he was sure that every one of the pictures so far had winked at him), put it and the letter into an envelope, and put the fan's name on the front, finally tossing it into a sack at his feet filled with similar ones.

"Harry, I'm not trying to be rough on you, but you have to learn from your mistakes. I hope this is doing the trick for you!" Lockhart said pleasantly as he did the same thing as Harry across the table.

"Yeah, sure..." the young man mumbled as he read yet another letter, this one a bit more explicit than the last one. He shook his head clear of the images that began to pop up in it and prepared another response. This ritual had been going on for three hours, and it was beginning to get annoying.

Luckily, even Lockhart was growing tired of answering fan mail, and he said, "Okay, that's enough for now. I'll walk you back to your common room."

"Thank Merlin..." Harry muttered, getting up and packing his things. Luckily, the teacher failed to hear that since he was too preoccupied getting another few letters finished. After he finished those, he got up as well, and Lockhart held the door open as the two began their walk back to Gryffindor Tower.

However, as they walked up the staircase and reached the second floor, Harry heard a chilling, hissing voice that seemingly came from the walls. It hissed, "_...rip...tear...kill...let me kill!_"

"Professor, do you hear that?" he asked suddenly, trying to find the source of the voice.

Lockhart stopped, looked around stupidly, and whispered back, "What voice?"

"That voice that just came out of the walls!" Harry insisted, "It's talking right now! Can't you hear it?"

Lockhart once again glanced at all of the walls, but he shrugged and said, "I don't hear anything, Harry. Have you been getting enough sleep?" The young man growled in frustration and continued up the staircases, ignoring Lockhart's rambles about getting enough beauty sleep.

When he reached into the common room, slamming a protesting Fat Lady in Lockhart's face, Harry spotted Ron sitting on the couch, fuming about how much Filch had actually made him clean.

"...bloody effing Filch...acts like he's all high and mighty..." he grumbled, glaring at the fire.

"I know what you mean...Lockhart was a complete flake..." Harry added, throwing himself down onto the couch, "and then I started hearing voices in the walls...it was a terrible night."

"Bloody Filch...wait, hearing voices in the wall?" Ron caught himself as he processed what Harry had said.

"Yeah. It was weird. Lockhart was walking me back here, and I started to hear something telling me that it wanted to rip and tear and kill. It was actually a little scary," he replied, shivering just from thinking about it.

"I'd just rather go to bed and put this night behind me..." Ron muttered.

"I completely agree," Harry replied tiredly.

...xXx...

Two weeks later, Hermione was sitting in the library, poring over a large batch of books. Even though it was a Saturday, she was still working on a goblin rebellion essay for Professor Binns, a chart of the second year constellations for Astronomy, and an essay on the properties and alternate uses of a Color Changing Potion for Snape. It was approaching lunchtime, but she had been in there since right after breakfast. She had worked so much during the morning that she had unintentionally formed a small fortress of books around herself.

No one else, except the vulture-like Madam Pince, was currently in the library, and only one or two kids trickled in every hour or so, usually only to grab a book and check it out. Hermione was so absorbed in her work that she didn't notice someone else enter the library until he came over and stood behind her.

"Hey, Hermione," Harry whispered, startling the girl, whose quill made a hideous line across her parchment. She glared at him, and Harry at least looked a little sorry about that, "Sorry about that. Could you come back to the common room? Crissy's friend Lydia has an issue, and she told her that you could help her out."

"What's wrong?" his friend asked curiously, studying his face carefully.

Harry didn't respond immediately, instead looking surprised, but he said, "Um...Crissy wouldn't tell me. It's probably a girl...thing." He grimaced at how bad that sounded.

Hermione continued to look at him with that calculating look but eventually began to pack up her books and parchment without another word. Harry sighed in relief, and he began to put her library books onto a nearby rack.

The bushy haired girl slung her bag over her shoulder and walked out of the library, with Harry following close behind. He cringed as Madam Pince stared him down when he passed by the desk. Once he was out of the library, he ran to catch up to Hermione, who was briskly walking down the hallway. She didn't appear to be in a good mood at having her study session interrupted, so Harry resisted the urge to make some small talk.

When they reached the portrait hole, Hermione angrily growled, "_Merlin's beard_." The Fat Lady winked at her and said, "Hope you're ready!" before she slowly swung open. Hermione looked confused at the portrait's words, and she was even more surprised to hear the extremely loud "Happy Birthday, Hermione!" that rung from the common room.

"Sorry I had to do that," Harry said apologetically from behind her, "but that was the only way to get you out of the library."

Hermione was still shocked from the surprise of it all. She looked around the room and was surprised at how many people were actually there. Oliver Wood was sitting on a couch near the fire with Alicia Spinnet, and they seemed rather oblivious to their surroundings. Neither seemed to be very ashamed of the fact that they were having a serious snogging session right in the middle of the common room. Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell were chatting happily with Crissy; Lydia, who looked a little shy to be around all these people that she wasn't very familiar with; and Ginny, who looked a little under the weather. Fred and George were catering the party. However, as they stood behind the food table and gave people whatever they wanted to eat or drink, the mischievous glint in their eyes made Hermione's own narrow with suspicion. Romulus was sitting in the corner, quietly drinking from a bottle of butterbeer that the twins had also managed to procure, and Neville was nearby, glancing around nervously while occasionally nibbling on a Cockroach Cluster. Dean, Seamus, Parvati, and Lavender were occupying a table by one of the common room windows, happily chatting about who knows what. Colin was snapping pictures left and right with his camera, and Harry couldn't hide behind Hermione fast enough to dodge his camera. Finally, Ron walked up to them, grinning like Christmas had come early. "C'mon, Hermione, get in here so you can open your presents!" he said. It didn't matter to Ron whose birthday or Christmas presents were being opened, he was always excited about it.

Hermione was actually speechless, a rarity to her friends, as she gaped at all of the stuff they had done for her. "Wh-what is all of this?" she stuttered finally.

"It's called a birthday party, Hermione. Where've you been for the past twelve years?" the gangly redhead said cheekily, earning him a glare.

"I know what a birthday party is, Ronald!" she hissed, "I was asking why you did it?"

"Well, me and Ron figured that since we were being prats to you when it was your birthday last year, the least we could do was to throw you a birthday party to make up for it!" Harry explained.

Hermione was once again shocked, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. "You did all of this for me?" she whispered. Harry and Ron looked at her and then looked at each other and shrugged, finally nodding like it was a more obvious that she thought. With tears threatening to spill out of her eyes, she wrapped an arm around both and gave them a big hug. Both boys were slightly surprised at this, but Harry laughed and put his free arm around her, while Ron, with his ear tips slowly turning pink, shakily put an arm around her like she was so fragile she'd break at the slightest touch.

She finally let them go after the twins started catcalling. Harry grinned sheepishly at her and said, "I told them not to do anything funny to the food, so you can get yourself something if you'd like. I'd still be careful, though."

"Then you can open your presents!" Ron added.

"I'll open them when _I_ feel like it, Ron, since this is _my_ party," she replied haughtily before walking over to get something from the wins, whose matching grins were not that comforting.

After Hermione got something to drink and eat, which was luckily not altered in any way by the twins, everyone gathered around in front of the fireplace, where Hermione's presents were. She eagerly ripped into them with a fervor that Ron would be proud of. Wood and the three female Chasers got her a t-shirt that said 'All of my friends are obsessed with Quidditch,' which she immensely enjoyed. Fred and George, as was customary, got her a package of Zonko's products, which she quickly perused to make sure that there was nothing forbidden inside.

"Hermione, we're hurt..." Fred said.

"...that you don't trust us!" George finished, both looking pitiful. The birthday girl couldn't help but laugh at that.

Dean and Seamus got her a box of Sugar Quills, and Parvati and Lavender got her a case of Wonder Witch products. Romulus bought her a bottle of Marty Maxwell's Marvelous Multicolor Ink. Crissy and Ginny contributed a nice, fluffy set of mittens and boots, and finally, Harry and Ron gave her a framed picture of the three of them that Colin had taken at some point during the year. She quickly dissolved into tears again and gave her two best friends another hug.

...xXx...

As Hermione's birthday became a pleasant memory, the months shifted to October, and people soon became very unhappy about the late fall months. Rain came almost daily, and whenever someone had to travel outside for one reason or another, they came back into the castle drenched in rain and usually with mud splattered all over their shoes and robes. This put Filch in a bad mood because he was the one who ended up cleaning the mess, so he was prone to more angry fits than usual. People were also getting sick left and right, and Madam Pomfrey was keeping herself sufficiently occupied just by administering, brewing, and receiving, from Professor Snape, extra Pepperup Potion.

No one was safe from the dreaded cold, but many tried to hide it, for various reasons like impending exams, upcoming Quidditch matches, and annoying older brothers. That last reason was exactly why Ginny Weasley was sitting by herself in a dark corner of the common room. It was lunch time, and she was doing her best to keep away from Percy, who had been giving her suspicious looks for the last few days. She knew that he suspected that she was ill, but he couldn't get her to take something for it if he couldn't find her.

Besides..."I'm not sick," she mumbled, "I'm just...stressed out. That's it, stressed out." She paused from her school work and thought for a moment, her free hand absentmindedly moving towards her school bag. "I _have_ been worn out lately...maybe I need to go to bed earlier..." she said tiredly.

Just then, the portrait hole opened up. Ginny tensed in case it was her overprotective older brother, but it was only Crissy, who looked around briefly before spotting her. "There you are!" she said exasperatedly, "Why didn't you come down to lunch?"

"I didn't feel like walking down there..." Ginny muttered. Her eyes looked glassy as she looked at her Herbology essay.

Crissy inspected her best friend's pale face worriedly. "Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital wing?" she asked.

"She doesn't have to!" someone else boomed. Ginny rubbed her head in annoyance as Percy strode into the room, holding a flagon of something that emitted a steady stream of smoke. When Ginny glared at Crissy, she waved her hands in front of her face defensively. The pompous Prefect marched over to his sister and shoved the Pepperup Potion in Ginny's face. Resigning herself to her fate, she reluctantly took the cup and drank its contents, grimacing at the bitter taste. Interestingly, her ears also began to spew the same smoke that had been coming from the flagon.

Coincidentally, at that same time, Harry, Ron, and Hermione came into the common room. Ron immediately saw her and started to snigger, Hermione looked torn between ignoring that she saw it and giggling a little herself, and Harry just gave her a strange look that she couldn't decipher. Any pallor her face held immediately disappeared as she flushed red and hid her face behind a book.

...xXx...

While Ginny's condition didn't improve all that much even with her brother's insistence, no one seemed to be completely free from the cold bug. All of the Quidditch players were sick on and off because of muddy, wet, cold practices. After a particularly bad practice one Saturday, the whole Gryffindor Quidditch team was sniffling, sneezing, and coughing with varying degrees of nastiness. All were wet, and their boots were covered in mud. They sloshed into the castle, and took a moment to blow noses, wipe eyes, and catch their breath.

"Well, the kitchens call!" Fred said happily.

"Since someone wouldn't let us eat breakfast..." George added grumpily. They waved goodbye and headed off to a side door in the main hall, soon disappearing. Wood pretended he didn't hear them and stalked upstairs, sneezing uncontrollably.

"Bring us something back up!" Angelina shouted after the twins. Fred waved his hand to show he heard her before disappearing into the hallway. She turned to Harry, who was leaning against the wall, and said, "Are you coming, Harry?"

"No, I need to go to the library and get a book," he muttered, not looking too excited at that prospect, "I'll see you around."

"Okay. Later, Harry!" the girls replied before running up the stairs, presumably to get out of their wet practice robes and into something that was cleaner and drier. Harry grudgingly began to head towards the library.

As he passed by the one of the first floor corridors, he heard someone muttering. Feeling curious, he poked his head down the corridor and saw Nearly Headless Nick floating in the middle of the hallway, looking extremely irritated about something. He floated towards the staircases and saw Harry. He quickly stopped muttering, put an over-the-top smile on his face, and said, "Hello, there, Harry! You look a little down. Is everything alright?"

The young boy chucked and replied, "I could ask you the same thing. You seemed to be pretty angry about something."

Nick visibly bristled in annoyance, and his head bobbled a little on what little skin still connected it to his spectral body. "It's nothing really..." he muttered, "It's silly...even though I'm just off by less than an inch..."

Harry was extremely confused, but he still asked, "What do you mean?"

Obviously, Nick was going to tell him regardless, as he blurted out, "Apparently, to be a part of the Headless Hunt, I have to have a completely severed head. I don't get why having a neck that was chopped 45 times with a blunt axe, but wasn't completely severed, doesn't count as being _headless_! It's baffling! Just because I only have half an inch of skin holding my head on!" He shuddered again in anger, this time making sure to hold his head on so it wouldn't move around. Harry watched this all with a mixture of amusement and confusion.

Once Nick was over his little spell, he gazed down at Harry and said, "I'm truly sorry about this, young Potter. What is giving you issues on this dreary day?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "A lot of things. Malfoy bought his way onto Slytherin's Quidditch team by getting all of them Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones. Fred and George have been spying on them, and they don't like what they're seeing..."

"Ah..." Nick said thoughtfully, as if he had just remembered something, "that's why the Bloody Baron has been so cheerful lately when Quidditch comes up..."

"Most likely," Harry grumbled, kicking off some mud on his shoes.

Any further discussion was cut off as a loud meowing from the end of the corridor caused both boy and ghost to look up in surprise. Mrs. Norris peered at them shrewdly, and the shuffling of feet signaled the impending arrival of Filch. "Harry, you had better get out of here. Filch has been in a foul mood all day. He's sick, and he's sick of people getting mud and grime all over the place."

"Thanks," Harry muttered. Nick nodded and floated up through the ceiling, and the young boy turned to make a hasty retreat, but as luck would have it, the staircases weren't anywhere near his location. The next thing he knew, he heard Filch's wheezing behind him, and he knew he was doomed.

"Look at all of this MUD!" he bellowed, albeit nasally. Harry assumed he was another victim of the cold spell. "Potter, I've had it with your troublemaking! Come with me!" Harry sighed and reluctantly followed Filch towards a back set of stairs that led towards his office.

However, as soon as they reached the top of the stairs, Nearly Headless Nick came floating back down into their path and said, "Mr. Filch, I saw something you might want to know about. Peeves is upstairs wrecking the Vanishing Cabinet. I believe he was saying something about wanting to get back at you for an episode last week involving a Dungbomb, a few rats, and garlic."

Filch's eyes widened, gaining a look of almost manic expression. "I'll get him kicked out for sure, this time!" he exclaimed, "That's a very valuable magical artifact! Dumbledore will have no choice but to get rid of him! I've got you now, Peeves!" Forgetting all about Harry, he hobbled back down the way he came and disappeared behind a tapestry, sneezing hard as he did. Mrs. Norris gave Harry another odd look before following her master into the secret passage.

Once he felt they were safely out of hearing range, Harry turned to Nick and said, "Thanks so much, Nick! How'd you get Peeves to do that?"

Nick looked quite pleased with himself. "It wasn't all that difficult. He's been pestering me to allow him to come to my deathday party on Halloween, and I hadn't been that willing to allow it, but I told him that he would come if he would behave himself and cause a distraction. Needless to say, he was happy to oblige." Harry wasn't sure if letting Peeves come to any party was a good idea, but he didn't say anything.

Nick kept looking at Harry like he wanted to say something, and he finally blurted out, "Would you like to come to my deathday party, Harry? You can bring Ron and Miss Granger if you'd like."

"Um...sure, Nick...what exactly would you do there?" he asked, not exactly sure of whether he'd want to go or not.

"Oh, it's just a gathering of ghosts. We'll have real food there for you live wizards. That's not a problem," Nick said casually, though Harry could see the desire for ghostly food in his eyes. It soon disappeared, and he continued, "Just come down to the dungeons next Saturday night around dinner time. You should be able to find us from there!"

"Okay, I guess. I'll see you then," Harry said uneasily.

"Splendid! See you around, Harry!" Nick said before he finally floated back up through the ceiling, no doubt to see what kinds of havoc Peeves had been wreaking. Harry was left in the corridor, muddy, wet, confused, and wondering what he had just gotten himself into.

...xXx...

The week flew by, and soon, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were passing by the Great Hall and heading for the dungeons, also accompanied by Catherine, who had never been formally introduced to any of the ghosts in the castle, though she had seen them on numerous occasions. As they descended into the lower depths of the castle, a crude sound that was supposed to pass off as music met their ears, and they knew it wouldn't be pretty.

It wasn't all that bad. The ghosts were a pleasant lot to talk to. They were extremely entertaining. The food left something to be desired, as it was mired in all manners of fungus, which was supposedly to help the ghosts to almost taste it. Ron complained all night about not having 'real food' to eat. Hermione was having a great time interrogating all of the ghosts about their history. Crissy was very glad to meet Nick and all of the other ghosts, and she also had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting Peeves when he dipped her hair into a bowl of punch that looked eerily similar to blood.

The only downside to the night was when the Headless Hunt crashed the party, but they were quickly dismissed by the Bloody Baron once he got annoyed with their endless rounds of head polo. The four kids left later that night, feeling hungry but oddly happy with their decision to go.

Since the stairs dumped them off on the second floor before moving to somewhere completely different, the group of four travelled along a corridor to try to find another way up. As they stood there, trying to figure out where they could go, Harry heard the voice he had heard weeks before after his detention with Lockhart.

"_...rip...tear..."_

"Guys, do you hear that?" he asked excitedly, trying to find its source.

Ron and Hermione looked around confusedly, and Crissy asked, "Hear what? Ron's stomach growling?"

"No, I know what that sounds like. I mean the voice in the wall!" he muttered, putting his ear up to the wall as he tried to pinpoint the voice's location. To his luck, he found the right section of wall the first time, and he ran down the corridor as he heard the voice again. His friends and sister followed, though they still didn't get what was going on.

"_...must kill...must...destroy!"_

"Harry, we can't hear a thing!" Hermione said as they neared a corner. The floor was covered in water.

"Well, I can, and..." Harry trailed off as he took in the sight around the corner. An inch of water stood on the stone floor, presumably coming from the nearby bathroom. On a nearby candle rack, Mrs. Norris hung from her tail, not moving or even blinking. Her body was as if she had turned into a living statue.

And that wasn't the scariest thing. On the opposite wall from where Mrs. Norris was, someone had written a message in blood.

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED

ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE!

As if the situation couldn't get any worse, the rush of kids from dinner caused many to arrive at that same corridor. They all gasped as they saw Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Crissy standing in a pool of water, in the middle of a corridor with a possibly dead cat and bloody message on the wall. Harry noticed that Malfoy was standing at the front of the crowd, smirking widely. To make matters worse, Filch appeared out of nowhere, saw his cat and then the four next to her, and screeched, "You've murdered my cat! I'll get you for this, Potter!" He made to lunge at Harry, but the arrival of another group stopped that.

"That's enough, Argus," Professor Dumbledore said firmly, arriving with Snape, McGonagall, and a bouncing Lockhart, who immediately began to spew off suggestions as to what might have happened to the cat. The Headmaster looked at everyone gathered and said, "Everyone, please return to your respective dormitories and do not leave for the rest of the night. Mr. Potter, Miss Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, would you please come with me?" His voice was not harsh, but it held a tone of absolute authority. Filch grabbed his cat, and the teachers led them to Lockhart's office, which he happily offered when asked if there was one nearby. Dumbledore examined the cat and declared it to be Petrified, not dead, and easily curable once the Mandrakes came of age. He interrogated the kids, but they knew nothing, instead just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. After that, he thankfully sent them off to their dorm.

...xXx...

AN: I feel like the end is rushed...probably because it is. Oh well. Please enjoy, and don't forget to review!

Mini contest...sort of...not really: Kudos to whoever can figure out who the two people in the stands were that were not identified. I won't reveal within the story who they were, but I will reveal their identities at the end of the CoS arc.


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